


What the wolves dream about

by Lucipurr (cat_the_killer)



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, M/M, karmagisa - Freeform, wolves in captivity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-02-16 05:27:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13047423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cat_the_killer/pseuds/Lucipurr
Summary: Once a wolf cub is born in captivity it’s no longer a wolf but just a mere dog. It never tasted the wildlife, it was never supposed to have it’s own will. It should just wag its tail and bark the way the owner commands. Yet a pup thirsts for a gulp of chilly wind on his tongue while running freely through the forest. Nagisa dreams of freedom he never had.





	1. A mother's warmth

It was dark. It had always been dark. But the cub didn’t complain. Even though it was dark, it was also warm. And so the cub was content. There were times when he could hear strange noises but he never found out where they were coming from and they always faded away. Except for one. A constant thumbing echoed around him ever since he could remember. It was not disturbing. No, the thumbing was soothing and made him feel safe.  
Sometimes he would get kicked, but he didn’t mind. The kicks weren’t strong. And so, sometimes he would return a kick with the same kind of strength. It took a while for the cub to understand who exactly he was kicking. They were the same as him, they were his siblings. Yet the cub had no idea how many siblings he had. And he didn’t care. They were always with him. They were always together in that warm soothing place. But one day, they were gone.  
The cub was scared. The whole place was shaking, the unknown voices stronger then ever. And before he knew, his siblings were gone. The warm place was calm again, but he was alone. But new muffled voices emerged. The cub didn’t mind them, he actually liked them.  
It didn’t take long and the place started to shake again. The cub felt strange and uncomfortable. He was moving in the warm place and he didn’t like it. Something was gribbing him tight from every direction and it didn’t matter how much he stirred and whined. And then suddenly, he felt cold.  
He didn’t stop whining. He didn’t like it. He wanted to go back to that warm place. It was still dark but the voices around him grew stronger. He didn’t like that either. Together with voices strange smells started attacking his snout too. He whined in discomfort. And then something warm fell on his head.  
A nice smell engulfed him and a little of the warm came back as a large tongue licked the cub’s head. The cub stopped whining and began to stir again, trying to get closer to that warmth. „It’s alright, my pup, your mother is here,“ a soft whisper set him at ease and the warm tongue and a big wet snout guided him closer to the warmth.  
The cub snuggled closer to the warm fur of his mother, as he had realized, but her snout kept pushing him. So the cub nuzzled again, trying to get closer and closer until his own snout found a hard bead. He didn’t wait and sucked at the teat, a sweet warm liquid pouring into his mouth. It was delicious and no matter how much he drank, he seemed to not have enough.  
His mother’s tongue kept licking and cleaning him while he sucked and another furry bundles started pushing him from both sides. He soon understood that those were his siblings. So they did not disappear after all, they were waiting for him. And now they were together again, in the safe warmth of their mother’s body, feeding at her teats.  
A young blonde woman was observing how the she-wolf was nursing her pups. She was a tall young woman in her early twenties with long curly hair, large light blue eyes and cute face. She wore a long white lab coat with denim miniskirt and black spaghetti strap neckline shirt. She leaned on the bars of the cage trying to get a better look at the cubs, her eyes fixed on the smallest one with light blue fur.  
„It seems you weren’t wrong, Irina.“  
She turned her head, her eyes landed on the man also dressed in a lab coat. That pale skin, short dark green curly hair, teal eyes and wide evil grin disgusted her. She bit her lip and returned her gaze toward the cubs.  
„Is this the first litter?“ Kotaro Yanagisawa, the head of the Wolf breeding section, asked.  
His subordinate, Irina Jelavic, shook her head. „No, this is the third one,“ she said, her tone monotone and professional, even though her eyes were not.  
„The mother is E31, dark blue fur. We paired her with the wolf H16, black fur. We got three black pups - two females and one male, one dark blue one - male and...“ she paused looking at the smallest of the cubs before continuing, „...and one light blue one – male. He was born a week after the other pups.“  
Yanagisawa grinned, satisfied. „Prepare the check up for the pup, even though I don’t think we need one. The color and the late birth make it clear. That one is a rare. Make sure that it survives.“  
She muttered a silent „Yes, sir,“ not looking away from the cubs. She felt sorry for them. She knew very well what kind of fate awaits them. Every time it was the same. Almost half of the cubs born in captivity did not survive. She knew that it was better than in the wild, but the reason why the wolves died in their institute was different.  
In the breeding section, the wolves were forced to mate over and over until the females were too exhausted to live and died. Because the mothers were exhausted, not all of their puppies were born alive or strong enough to survive. And even when they did it was not over for them.  
Some of the healthy ones with nice fur were raised here to be bred again, some labeled as expendable were sent to be killed for their nice fluffy fur and some were to be sold to the fighting rings or as pets for the wealthy ones. And from all the wolves they had, the rare ones were the most valuable.  
„The previous two litters didn’t have any rare one,“ the man was stroking his chin in thought. „Was she paired with the same male as before?“ Yanagisawa asked.  
„No, the previous one died. H16 is new here. The hunters sent him to the institute a month ago. This was his first mating.“  
„So a wild wolf. We seem to get more favorable results after mating the wild wolves than those tame mutts. A pitty that the hunters rather kill the wolves instead of capturing them. Arrange another mating for the H16. With a bit of luck we might be able to get another rare pup.“  
She nodded and waited whether he would give her other instructions, but the man just turned his back on her and walked away inspecting the newborn pups of another wolf. She unlocked the cage, walked in and closed it after. The she-wolf raised her head and growled silently.  
„It’s alright, girl. It’s me. I won’t hurt your pups,“ Irina said with a kind voice and outstretched her hand walking closer so the wolf could sniff her.  
The she-wolf sniffed and after recognizing the scent of the woman who took care of her and her former pups she relaxed and allowed her to stay there. Irina smiled sadly. She knew the wolf wouldn’t be able to attack her even if she decided to. She was already weak. Irina doubted she would survive another mating. It was a miracle that none of her pups died in this litter.  
Her heart ached knowing that whether she was weak or not it didn’t matter. Yanagisawa would just make her breed again, especially now, that there was a chance for another rare wolf pup. But before that, when the pups would be able to open their eyes, walk and survive without the mother milk, they would take them from her. Irina had listened to the cries of that wolf twice now and she didn’t think she would be able to bear hearing it again.  
She hated this work. She hoped she would be able to help the wolves, enjoy the little bundles of joy and cuteness, not mercilessly breeding them until nothing of the will to live stayed in the mothers. This wasn’t how she imagined the breeding sector would look like. How she wished now that she would have rather chosen being a huntress. That way her heart would not have broken. The wolves would not have suffered under her watch. If the hunters had the same set of mind as she did, she didn’t wonder why they rather killed their prey instead of capturing it.  
„I’m sorry girl. I’m the worst, aren’t I? I pity you, I hate my boss, I hate this institute, yet I can’t afford to lose this job so I shut my mouth, gritt my teeth and do as I’m told,“ she sighed, closing in toward the puppies. The wolf gave out a threatening growl.  
„Sorry, I’m not coming any more closer,“ she inched away. She wasn’t stupid to try something dangerous like petting the wolf or her pups. The she-wolf might have been weak but a mother was always dangerous when there was a threat to her offspring. And even though she liked and trusted Irina, letting her near her pups was without a question.  
If it wasn’t Irina in the cage but someone else, he would probably beat the wolf and took a whining puppy by force, not caring about the injuries the wolves would have obtained. But Irina wasn’t like that. She was not there to hurt the wolves. But this posed a problem. She had to separate the wolf from one of her cubs and she wasn’t keen on calling anyone to help. Irina wouldn’t risk injuring the wolves.  
„You leave me no other choice,“ she sighed and put a hand inside her pocket, taking out a syringe. „Don’t worry, it won’t hurt. And I will bring him back before you wake up,“ she coaxed and closed the distance again, driving the needle into the wolf’s neck. There was a light growl before the wolf grew silent, closing her eyes.  
The puppies kept snuggling to their mother not noticing any kind of change except the scent of the strange woman. If anything they just began whining more. Irina moved closer to them and took the one with the lightest fur. The cub was the most quiet from the bunch, yet still whimpered. And his whines grew louder once in Irina’s arms.  
„Shhh, I’m not going to hurt you,“ Irina petted him yet to no avail. Not that she expected something. The blind cub was terrified and calling his mother. „Better get going. The sooner we are done the sooner you are going back to your mom.“  
She left the cage and walked down the corridor in a quick pace, ignoring the wolves in the cages and other workers. The puppy in her hands was not happy and its whines were attracting unwanted attention.  
„Is that the rare one?“ one of the workers called out to her.  
She just nodded and rushed away without properly looking at him. After few minutes she reached the lab, which was probably meant to be a veterinary ordination but someone screwed up really hard while defining what a veterinarian was supposed to be and called the man a mad scientist. Thankfully, the only one on duty right then was just the nurse.  
Aguri Yukimura was kind and gentle and a little bit weird, according to Irina’s opinion. The woman was a pure airhead who kept messing up yet never lost her optimism. She had short dark brown hair and eyes and that day was wearing jeans and strange yellow shirt with a big toothy grin painted across her chest, which made her breasts look even bigger than they already were.  
„Ah, hello, Rina! What brings you here?“ she greeted the blonde with a big smile.  
Irina smiled back. Aguri might have been a little bit weird but she was the greatest person Irina ever met and her dear friend. She knew Aguri had a hard time in the institution as well. The nurse had a soft heart and it was hard for her to smile so genuinely while doing this awful job. The fact that she seemed so happy now meant that nothing disastrous had happened that day.  
„I brought you a new patient,“ she showed her the puppy wondering whether the cub would make Aguri’s day even better or opposite, worse. Thankfully, Aguri’s eyes lit and her face started shining after eyeing the cub. She motioned her friend into the ordination and Irina did so, walking toward the examinational table and placing the puppy on it, carefully holding it so he wouldn’t crawl to the edge and fall.  
„I heard about him. I so wanted to see him! This is only my second time seeing a rare wolf. He is the only one in the institute right now. Or she? Is he a he or a she?“ she blabbed preparing the equipment after Irina told her the reason behind their visit.  
„It’s he,“ the blonde smiled. „Well, then you are more experienced than I am. I’ve never seen a rare one before,“ she paused and eyed her friend suspiciously. „Do you even know what exactly you are to do?“ she asked not sure whether Aguri knew how to examine the puppy considering her confession right then.  
„Don’t worry. I’ll just examine him like all the other ordinary pups. And the determination of whether he is really a rare one or not is simple enough. I just have to take a little bit of his blood and let it react with silver,“ she grinned and moved her stuff closer to the table with the pup and started the examination.  
Irina watched her, holding the puppy down when needed. Aguri was quick and gentle, her clumsiness nowhere to be seen while taking care of the little bundle. In the end she took a bit of the cub’s blood and went back to her desk. Irina took the puppy and followed her, curiously watching her friend’s doing.  
Aguri opened a small lead box and took out a little piece of silver, placing it on the glass plate. Then she let few drops of blood fall on it. „Just look at it,“ she spoke when the droplets of blood started changing their color to black after coming into contact with the silver. „That’s a good enough proof that he is indeed a rare,“ she smiled, yet her mouth twitched and then her smile grew sad. „What does Kotaro plan to do with him?“  
Irina watched the black blood intoxicated after touching the silver rock. Of course, this would be a sufficient proof. Normal wolves did not have problems with silver but for the rares it was a strong poison. That was the reason why the hunters kept using silver bullets even though they were slower and less accurate then lead ones and required shooting from closer distance. Well, when it came to a mature large rare wolf, a single silver bullet might have not cause much harm, yet it was quite effective. She just shuddered at the thought what that bullet might have done to a little puppy.  
„Nothing good. Probably keep breeding him, trying to get more rare wolves. After all, the cubs of the rare wolves are almost guaranteed to be rare as well. And since the rares live longer then even humans, it’s going to be a hell of a life for him,“ she said, saddened.  
Aguri nodded with a head held low. „But the rares aren’t very fertile. There will be only one pup a time and you might have to mate him multiple times to get even that. On the other hand, the rares are special. Even males can give birth,“ she paused, her eyes tracing the whining cub in Irina’s hands.  
„It will be tough for the little one. He is smaller than a cub should be. Since he is rare I do not think there is a need to worry about it, but a normal cub might have not survived. I bet he is going to be small even after reaching adulthood. That will make it difficult for him should he ever bear offsprings.“  
The two women parted in a gloomy mood. Irina walked the way back to the wolves‘ cages and returned the puppy to his mother. The she-wolf was still unconscious. Irina watched her pups a little bit longer and then exited the cage. She still had work to do. Arranging the mating for H16, filling the papers of the pups, writing her daily report and at the end of the day, crying her heart out for the poor cubs.  
The light blue puppy snuggled again to the warm fur of his mother, happy to be able to suck at her teat once more. At that moment there was nothing that bothered the little cub. He couldn’t be bothered by those weird scents all around him, about his pushy sibling nor about his silent mother. He continued living his days in peace, whining and kicking the other cubs, fighting for his mother’s milk and sleeping in the safety of her warmth.  
Irina came to check them every day and the pups grew used to her scent. And once they were old enough to open their eyes and walk on their legs, they grew curious about her too. Every time she entered the cage they would run toward her, barking cutely and licking her boots. Irina loved those moments. She played with the pups as much as she could before checking them and their mother briefly.  
„You haven’t walked since giving birth,“ she observed once, petting the she-wolf.  
Since the pups grew up and got used to her, the wolf stopped being on the edge and allowed Irina to do whatever she wanted. The mother wheezed, licked the blonde’s hand and then laid her head on the ground. Irina frowned. She didn’t like it. It seemed that the she-wolf was giving up. Her puppies were probably the only thing that kept her alive.  
„Soon, they will take them away,“ she told the wolf. „The grief will kill you if you stay like this.“  
The animal wheezed again and closed her eyes. And Irina knew that this was the end for her. Silent tears started falling down her cheeks. She petted the wolf again and then moved her attention toward the pups. None of them was to be killed for fur, thankfully, but once they were separated from their mother they would no longer be under her care. Except for the rare one. She was appointed as his caretaker.  
She loved the little blue one the most. And she liked to believe that the pup was fond of her as well. He was a shy pup, a little scaredy-cat, always hiding behind his siblings, always silent. He never barked, whined at most. But he still licked Irina’s fingers and wagged his tail when she petted him. He was the smallest one from the bunch, hardly ever joining his siblings in their games. He would snuggle to his mother’s side and watch everything carefully with an intelligent glint in his eyes. Irina wondered, whether he was old enough to understand her.  
The pup did understand. It didn’t take long for him to learn the human’s language, yet he was still too young to comprehend everything he was hearing. The pup locked his sapphire eyes at the woman, tilting his head after hearing the words she uttered to his mother. Then, he whined.  
„Mama, what is she talking about? Take away? Kill? What does it mean?“ he nudged his mother with his little snout, yet the she-wolf just huffed and ignored him. She hadn’t spoken at him ever since the day he was born. She didn’t speak with any of her kids. It made him sad. He could remember his mother’s voice. It was sweet and gentle, it was that kind of voice that drew away the fear. He longed to hear it again.  
He nudged her again, persistent. But his mother’s reaction shocked him as well as his caretaker. The she-wolf growled, glanced at her cub, bared her teeth and then snapped at him. The pup squealed and jumped away from his mother, running on his tiny feet to the safety behind the blonde woman, his tail tucked between his legs.  
Irina stood there frozen from the shock. She never saw the female wolf attack one of her pups. The she-wolf huffed again and laid her head down, satisfied that the pup left her alone. Her anger vanished, yet Irina had little doubt that the wolf would have hurt the pup if he bothered her again.  
„Seems she finally decided to throw him away,“ a familiar voice came from the other side of the bars.  
Irina turned her head to meet her eyes with those of Yanagisawa. His eyes were focused on the wolf, a little smiled tucked at the corner of his mouth. He didn’t seem surprised at all, as if he anticipated it.  
„Throw him away? I don’t understand. Why would she do that?“ Irina asked, confused.  
„It happens in cases like this. When the rare is born to an ordinary wolf, even though the mother cares about it at first in the end the bitch casts its pup away. In the wild you will not find a pack with the mix of ordinary wolves and the rares. The rares are outsiders. Most of them are lone wolves, casts by their parents and their packs to survive on their own from an early age,“ he explained and motioned to her to get out of the cage with the pup.  
Irina took the light blue bundle and did as he told her, casting a glance toward the mother. „Why do they do that? And how can the pups survive on their own? That’s impossible!“ she frowned looking at the one in her hands. The pup was only a month old. They didn’t even try whether he would be able to eat meat and even if he did, his mother would have had to feed him it at first.  
„From what I know, it’s not set when the pups are thrown away. Sometimes it takes a year, sometimes just few days. Of course, the young ones are bound to die. That is unless they are lucky and another rare finds them. A lone one or a pack. Even rares tend to create packs. Or they used to. Who knows whether they do even now. It’s been long since the last time that the seeing of a pack of rares was reported,“ the man shrugged, taking the woman and the pup away from the cage.  
„But...why?“ the woman repeated her question once more, terrified by the discovery.  
The man shrugged. „How should I know? Probably they see them the same way we do. Abominations. Fascinating, without a doubt, but abominations all the same.“  
Abomination. The puppy didn’t know what that word meant, yet he was somehow able to realize it was nothing good. He kept quiet, the shock from his mother’s rejection still clenching at his heart. He nuzzled to Irina’s shirt and let out a single silent whine. The woman didn’t seem to notice.  
Rare. That was another word he didn’t know yet this one kept clinging to him ever since he could remember. It seemed that he was rare, whatever was that supposed to meant, and he was important because of it. What made him so different from his sibling and therefore so special he could not tell.  
The puppy glared at the man walking in front of them and sniffed the air. After that he whined again. The man reeked of chemicals and blood. The puppy never liked this man’s scent and something was telling him that he would never come to like it. Yanagisawa terrified him. The man never hurt the pup, never even touched him, yet he kept giving him those creepy smiles.  
The puppy felt like crying his lungs out. He wanted to cry for his mother, to go back to snuggle to her warm fur. He wished to go back to his siblings too. The puppy hardly ever played with them, yet playing was the thing he so wished to do now. And he wanted to cry from fear. He didn’t like Yanagisawa leading the unknown way. He had this feeling that whatever was waiting for him at the end of it would not be good. Something in his head kept yelling at him to run away from the man.  
But the cub kept silent. He only whined here and now, but the sounds were always muted by Irina’s breast which the pup kept burying his head into. Speaking of scent, Irina’s was really nice. It was sweet and even though there was often a scent of chemicals lingering around her, it was never stronger than the sweet one. It soothed the little pup to sleep.  
After that the pup woke up in an unknown cage without his mother or siblings. The cages next to his were occupied by cubs like him. They were all alone and all calling their mothers. The pup wanted to call his mother as well, but the memory of her threatening fangs weakened his resolve. He understood he would never see her again. And even if he did, she might choose to actually hurt him then.  
With a whimper he curled up and closed his eyes, wishing the sleep would take over him once more. And it did. The pup had no idea how long he was in the cage. He would sleep, he would wake up, wait for Irina to come and feed him from a bottle and then he would curl up and sleep again. His sleep was peaceful and he hated waking up from it. When he woke up he was cold. Never before was he cold when his mother’s body was warming him up the day and the night.  
His days had quickly become that boring routine. He did not speak with the pups in the other cages. There was no point in even trying. He barely talked with his siblings back when he was still with them. It was difficult to talk to them. They were always blabbing incoherently, the same as the pups in the other cages, yet those were a little better with their words. He wished to be able to talk with Irina, but that was not possible. No matter how much he tried, she was never able to understand him.  
Soon, Irina started coming to his cage with different meal to feed him than the bottle with milk. She called it meat. The pup found the meat to be really delicious. It smelled of blood and unlike Yanagisawa’s scent, this one was alluring. It was chewy and juicy and even though it was hard to eat once the woman started bringing it in big pieces, the pup loved the taste.  
The new meal was about the only good thing that happened to the pup since he was put into that cage. Irina’s visits grew shorter and soon she only came only when it was time to eat. The pup feared once the woman would stop coming to him altogether. He feared he would be left completely alone. When the woman was with him, when she petted him and talk to him sweetly, his worries dissolved. Yet they came back as soon as Irina left.  
One day she came to the cage as usually with a piece of meat in one hand but a strange leather band in the other. The pup greeted her enthusiastically not paying attention to the unknown object in her hand. There was no change in Irina’s behavior from the other day either. She put the meat down and watched silently as the pup attacked the meat, fighting to rip it into smaller pieces that would be easier to eat.  
„I brought you something today,“ she said smiling, yet her voice didn’t sound much cheerful.  
„You are old enough now for your first collar,“ she continued and while the pup was distracted with the meal she slipped the band around his neck.  
Suddenly, the meat was forgotten. Once the collar was on it felt as if something was strandling the pup. It didn’t really hurt and the pup could breathe just fine but it was highly uncomfortable. The little wolf struggled, tried to shake it off, scratch it with his tiny paws, he even tried to rub it off on the bars, but all in vain. He whined and bark at the woman, displeased.  
„I imagine it is not that much comfortable, but you have to get used to it,“ the woman laughed and petted the pup. She traced her fingers along the collar stopping once she eyed ‚G47‘ written with marker on the collar.  
„The wolves do not have names. It is sad, really. I don’t really fancy calling you G47,“ she sighed and kept stroking the pup’s head.  
„I wonder whether your mother named you,“ she kept talking to the pup even though the creature could not answer her.  
The pup wanted to. He wanted to talk to her but kept quiet nevertheless. There was no meaning in even trying. He understood a long time ago the humans couldn’t understand the language of wolves. So he just listened to her.  
A name. A name would be nice. Such a shame he did not have any. His mother never gave him one. And whenever his sibling tried to speak to him they would call him ‚little blue one‘ or something similar. But he would love a beautiful name like Irina’s was.  
„You know what? I’ll give you name. Something nice I can call you. It will be our secret,“ the woman giggled and the pup barked. It seemed good enough confirmation for his caretaker.  
Irina tilted her head toward the ceiling, pushing her index finger against her chin, deep in thought. The pup sat down, watching her intently. The blonde seemed to have hard time thinking of the name. She glanced at the pup, looking into his azure eyes. They were blue and shiny, pretty like an ocean.  
„Ocean. Sea. Water. Beach,“ she murmured, her thoughts running wild in her head until she beamed.  
„I got it! A name pretty enough to suit your eyes,“ she grinned, not noticing enthusiasm and impatience in the wolf’s eyes.  
„I’ll call you Nagisa. What do you think? Do you like that name?“ The pup, Nagisa, barked again and licked her fingers, jumping around her. Irina had never seen him that lively before.  
„As I thought, you really do understand me. Promise me something. Once you mature, let’s have a nice long talk,“ she smiled, pulling the pup closer to her so she could hug him.  
Nagisa had no idea how was he to talk to her, yet he happily whimpered, agreeing to it. He snuggled closer to Irina feeling the warmth of her body. The warmth similar to the one of his mother, yet so different. It felt safe once again and Nagisa thought, that if it was Irina, she would never betray him.  
The days passed by and soon, Nagisa got used to his new collar. It still felt weird and wrong to have something so tightly grib his neck, yet it started becoming his new normal. After some time the collar started to be more uncomfortable once again, but it was quickly resolved when Irina loosened it a bit. Apart from that nothing excited happened in Nagisa’s life. He kept following the same routine like before. Sleeping, waking up, greeting Irina, eating and then sleeping again.  
Sometimes a human or two stopped by his cage and peeked inside, observing him with disturbing look in their eyes and murmuring even more disturbing words. He was rare, so he attracted human’s attention. He still didn’t know what it meant to be a rare, but he decided he didn’t like it. He didn’t like humans staring at him with those scary eyes.  
Even though they were disturbing he managed to cope with them just fine. He mostly ignored them and tried to get some more sleep. He was usually able to ignore them and fall asleep, but it proved to be difficult with one particular visitor.  
He started appearing a week after Nagisa got his collar and his name. A tall man with brown hair and piercing violet eyes dressed in fancy brown suit with a leaf pin on his necktie. He never spoke a word to him. He always just stood in front of the cage watching him intently for a few minutes and then he would leave. It might have not sounded that bad, but Nagisa always trembled under the man’s gaze. There was something in his eyes that terrified him, the smirk on his lips not helping a little bit.  
His scent was rather interesting. Unlike all the humans he came into contact with he didn’t smell of chemicals nor blood. His smell wasn’t disturbing but it was strong and overwhelming. It didn’t take long for Nagisa to realize that it was a scent of someone who was better not to be messed with. It was scent of someone powerful and deadly dangerous.  
The man came to watch him repeatedly in the span of few days. Nagisa stopped counting it after the fifth visit. He just assumed that it became another periodical occurrence. The thought that something might not be right and the feeling of danger came when the man appeared in front of his cage with Yanagisawa and Irina by his side, the woman wearing a solemn face.  
„As you could have ascertained yourself, the pup is given an appropriate care, right, Irina,“ Nagisa could hear Yanagisawa speaking.  
The pup raised his head catching a sight of Irina nodding, her brow slightly furrowed. He trembled under the glare the man gave him but his thoughts were mainly directed at Irina at that moment. Something was wrong with her. She looked as if she was about to cry. He hated seeing her sad.  
Nagisa walked closer to the bars, his eyes watching Irina. He then whimpered, lifted his paw and scratched the bars, trying to get her attention. He hoped he would get her to go inside the cage. Then he would nuzzle to her and lick her fingers, that always made her smile.  
The woman just gave him a sad look, pushed her lips tighter together and diverted her gaze, staying in the place. The one who moved closer to the cage instead her was the unknown man. Nagisa backed away immediately, bowing his head low in fear.  
„I’m still concerned. It is rather small. I also believe it would be just about time it got a decent training,“ the man said, observing the pup.  
Irina clenched her fists. It took her all she had not to spit a venom into the man’s face. Even though she thought that Gakuho Asano was a way better than her boss, the man still terrified her. It was Asano who owned the place. And it was Asano who owned the Hunter’s association as well. Even though formally the Association was governed by the council of elder hunters, everyone knew it was Asano pulling strings from the shadows.  
„Of course, Irina is a decent trainer as well. We wanted to wait a little bit more, but she might start training him right a-,“ Yanagisawa started but Asano interrupted him.  
„That’s not enough. My apologies, I do not doubt you, but you are a fairly young lady with little experience. Rares tend to be hard to handle, I would rather have someone else to train G47,“ he said with a gaze directed toward the woman. A smile adorned his lips but did not reach his eyes.  
Irina shuddered. She nodded, reluctantly, and looked away once more, blinking to push the tears back to the corners of her eyes. She wasn’t stupid. She knew pretty well that Asano will take the pup from her. She knew it a long time ago, ever since he started coming to check him up in person. She had always pushed those thoughts away, but now the reality came back to crush her.  
She cared for the pup much more then she did for any other. She wished to see him grow up. And more than anything, she wished to be able to talk to him properly. The pup had always had wise eyes. She knew he could understand her. And she wished the same applied to her.  
The two men talked and talked and the woman did nothing just stood there, averting her eyes. Nagisa’s heart clenched once he understood what this all was about.  
„Transfer G47. I’m already taking care of one rare, a professional trainer and all. I want to have it under my care. Of course, once it will be old enough for mating, I will bring it here to breed,“ the man commanded to Nagisa’s horror.  
The pup barked and whined, scratching at the bars trying to get Irina’s attention. They wanted to take him away from her. He knew he would never see her again if they did that. He pleaded for her to stand up to the men. She might have not been able to understand him, but he believed she would get what he wanted from her from his actions. Yet she chose to ignore him.  
Once the trio headed away a stab of betrayal shut Nagisa up. He couldn’t believe it. Irina just stood there in silent. She didn’t fight for him. She abandoned him the same way his mother did. No, this was worse. Irina was his angel, his sanctuary. And she just ignored him and his whining. Nagisa cried.  
He whined when unknown men came for him, whined when they stuffed him into portable cage and he whined when they sat the cage on the truck. By that time the men were already agitated by his whining. One of them took out a syringe and drove it into the pup’s neck.  
„That ought to shut you up,“ the man grinned and Nagisa yelped. It hurt, even though only a second. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he stumbled and fell down. He was suddenly very sleepy and soon a darkness took over him.  
There was no saying how much Nagisa slept. When he woke up he was back in his cage. Though still sleepy, he felt enormous relief and happiness that he was back. That was until he realized how quiet it was. Perhaps a middle of a night? Nagisa tilted his head and peeked at the cage beside him. It was empty.  
„Oh, are you awake?“  
Nagisa froze. It was not the night and he was not in his cage. And he didn’t know the voice that spoke to him.  
He turned his head and looked at the cage on the other side. A girl with light green eyes and hazel eyes was sitting in the cage. There was a collar similar to his around her neck and blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The pup glanced at her bare feet, then at her exposed collar bones and understood, that beneath the blanket she was naked.  
He whimpered and sniffed the air curiously. It was strange. The girl looked like human, but didn’t smell like one. She smelled like sunshine and sweeter than a mother milk, but there was something else. Her scent was like that of a wolf. It surprised the pup. Never did he met someone with a scent and looks like this.  
„How are you feeling? I was told to look after you. But... it’s not like I would be able to come inside your cage to help you though,“ she giggled sheepishly.  
Nagisa just stared at her, staying quiet. There was no point in talking to her. Humans couldn’t understand him, no matter how they smelled. It was what it was.  
„Oh, are you scared? You don’t have to be, no one will hurt you. Come on, talk to me. Are you still sleepy?“  
Nagisa puffed and whined again. Then he placed his head on his paws. „A little bit,“ he answered not expecting the girl to understand.  
„That will pass. What is your name? I’m Kayano,“ she replied, the smile still plastered on her face.  
Nagisa raised his head again in surprise. Did she understood him? „N-name?“ he stuttered not quite catching up, his head still feeling funny.  
„Yes, your name. You have one, right? Well, maybe master did not give you one yet, but your mother had to call you somehow, right?“ she spoke, patiently waiting for the little pup to shake off the dizziness.  
Now Nagisa was pretty sure that the girl understood him. It was shocking, but curiously relieving. He never really talked to someone normally. But he always wanted to. The pup thought about her words remembering his mother. She did not give him name, but Irina did. The memories of her hurt though.  
„Nagisa. My mother called me Nagisa,“ he answered after a moment of hesitation.  
„What a cute name,“ Kayano giggled again but her smile fell short after since she noticed Nagisa’s gloomy look.  
„I’m sorry. Do you miss her?“ she asked gently.  
„I do,“ Nagisa nodded, thinking about Irina.  
„It will be better. It’s not that bad here, really. Just be obedient and master will be nice to you. You will get fresh meat and water, your cage will be cleared regularly and you will be even permitted to go into the garden for a run.“  
Nagisa barely listened to her. He was still fighting off the effects of the drug he was injected with and mourning his parting with Irina. Her betrayal still hurt. He never thought he would forget this pain.  
„How is it that you can talk to me? Humans can’t understand me. And they don’t smell like wolves either,“ the pup asked, trying to divert his attention from thinking about the blonde woman.  
A smile returned to Kayano’s lips. „That’s easy. I’m not human. I’m like you.“  
„But you don’t look like wolf,“ Nagisa tilted his head.  
„Well, I’m not a wolf either,“ she laughed. „I’m a rare.“  
Nagisa’s eyes widened. A rare. Just like him. He didn’t know the meaning of that word but now he was more curious than ever. And now he could ask. „What does a rare mean?“  
Kayano put her finger on her bottom lip thinking about how to explain that to him. It was obvious that the pup didn’t know much. It wasn’t really surprising. Nagisa was so small, so young.  
„Well, we rares are wolves that are not really wolves. We can look like wolves, like you, but we can also look like humans, like me. Now, people call us rares, but there was a time, when we had a different name,“ her eyes shone brightly, „werewolves.“  
Later, at least three towns away from the place Nagisa was in, a howl echoed throughout the forest, driving fear into the hearts of a squad of hunters. The men started trembling, all but one. Tadaomi Karasuma, a squad leader with spiky black hair and piercing dark eyes frowned at his men, but said nothing.  
They were pursuing one rare wolf for about a week now, the beast slipping through their fingers whenever they thought they almost had it. Tadaomi saw many beasts but none like this. The wolf wasn’t that big and was clearly young, but it was cunning and had already injured three of his best men. The Red Devil his men called it.  
The hunter glared at his subordinates noticing the fear in their eyes. The howling of the wolf was ripping their courage into shreds. He couldn’t blame them, but he needed to encourage them quickly, otherwise this hunt would be lost.  
He pulled out his silver dagger, stood in front of his fellow hunters and raised his weapon above his head. „Are you scared? Are you giving up? Fine, then I shall hunt it down on my own. Our previous attacks weakened it. Why do you think it is howling so much? It is trying to sound intimidating, but it’s just a bluff. It is injured and crawling somewhere under the rock. An easy prey. So, what do you think? Who will join me?“  
He was never good with words nor with people, but once one hunter raised his weapon taking up the challenge, the others joined him quickly, voicing their determination. Tadaomi closed his eyes in content and then spun around, facing the darkness of the forest.  
„Let’s catch the devil!“


	2. The Red Devil

The water was cold and burned the wolf’s dry throat yet the beast couldn’t help it. It was the first time in two days that the rare wolf had time to stop and drink. There was a lingering metallic taste in his mouth but the water soon wash it off. He was glad for that. The human’s blood had a foul taste, so unlike the one of the game in the forest.

When he sated his thirst he let his body fall on the mudy ground and enjoyed the sunrays. He was tired yet he fought off the sleep and after few minutes of rest stood up once more. His fur was dirty and even though it was hard to spot because of its red color, it was bloodied on several spots.

The wolf entered the stream of water trying to wash away the dirt and blood, but hissed and jumped back on the shore once he felt his wounds sting. A low growl escaped him and then his body curled and twisted, stretched and shifted until it shrank and his fur disappeared revealing a young boy with red hair and copper eyes.

The boy ran his shaking hand up and down through his body, checking the places that hurt the most. Lots of them were almost healed, yet it took longer than he anticipated. He shouldn’t have been surprised knowing that it was silver weapons that caused the injuries, but he was still pretty upset over it.

He traced his fingers down his chest toward his left hip where it still burned fiercely and racked his brain for the memory of what was the cause of that one wound. He almost howled once he realized that he was shot there and that the bullet must have still been buried inside. He hated the thought of digging it out yet he knew that he had no other choice. That was if he wanted to live to see another day.

He carefully washed the dirt off his skin and rinsed his wounds and then found a nice big branch he could bit into. He placed it into his mouth and then positioned his fingers above the wound, elongating his nails into the claws. He took three long breaths and then buried his claws into his flesh.

The pain was immense. Nearly unbearable. He huffed and bit the branch hard, muffled sounds of his screams keeping him from passing out from the pain. Once he dug deeper scratching the surface of the bullet it was no longer possible to bear it. He bit so hard the wood in his mouth shattered and he collapsed to the ground. He was certain that he passed out but he still didn’t allow himself to take his fingers out, not without the bullet between them.

He shook violently and forced himself to take a few long breaths in an attempt to calm down. It didn’t work very well so he continued what he had started and hastily grabbed the bullet ripping it out of his body with one big scream. After the act he stayed lying on the ground, breathing harshly. He had no idea whether he passed out again, the only thing he could focus on was the pain, which became number with every passing second until he was strong enough to sit up.

He looked at the silver bullet that was burning his shaking hand and hurriedly threw it into the river. He stayed on the spot watching the river and then leaned toward it and rinsed the wound from the bullet hissing in pain.

„I hate hunters,“ he complained to no one in particular and sniffed the air.

Fortunately, there wasn’t any smell of humans, silver nor gunpowder. Only the forest. He lied down again, resting, listening to the music of the river and smelling the beauty of the forest. He was tempted by sleep but knew better than to submit to his desire of it. It was dangerous to stay there for too long. It was foolish to think that the hunters weren’t searching for him a way nearer than he would like. The bastards were hard to outsmart.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes to be met with the darkness and stars above his head. Despite all of his better judgement he fell asleep in the end. He cursed and rolled to his side, yelping in pain. How cruel to do that to his poor wounded hip.

The cold air washed over him rendening him into a shivering mess. He sneezed and then stretched his muscles, twisting his body and turning into a wolf again. What a bad idea to be sleeping in his naked human form. He felt much better once he was covered by his warm fur.

The rare shook his head and stood up, yawning. The sleep did him good. He was lucky that he survived his little nap. Who knew what the hunters would have had in the store for him had they found him. They could have killed him in his sleep at best, captured him at worst.

The wolf growled when the thought crossed his mind. No way in hell was he going to let them capture him. He was a free wolf and he would die as one. Walking toward the darkness of the forest he let his thoughts wander, thinking about the stories his mother once told him. Stories about wolves in captivity, stupid dogs that obediently wagged their tails, pleaded to be fed and petted and had no will of their own.

He despised the wolves in captivity, especially the rares. They were traitors to their own blood. How could they? How could they bow their heads to the humans? The werewolves were supposed to be a strong and proud race. But now? Even the ones that were free were doomed to the lives of preys.

The wolf stopped in his tracks, throwing his head backwards, howling his lungs out. He listened, waiting for a reply, yet it did not come. No surprise. His pack was, fortunately, nowhere near and any other rare in the vicinity knew better than to reveal his location to a stranger. And with the hunters chasing him it was an act of idiocy to howl. The wolf understood that very well but he gave in to his frustration. No wonder his packmates called him a hothead.

It was not wise to think about his pack at that moment since it upset him even more and kept him occupied with his thoughts instead of being aware of the scents and noises from his surroundings. He wasn’t the one who would stick with his pack every hour a day, quite contrary. He would wander alone for days, hunting or exploring, he would even spend whole days alone in the town disguised as a human. He loved his packmates, he truly did, despite not willing to say it aloud. But he was a lone wolf deep inside his heart and he would grow mad if he had to be with them without a break.

But now he would give anything to be with them, to know that they were alright. Hunters were the reason they had to part, the red rare bravely distracting them so his packmates could run away. His thoughts kept coming back to the only two female wolves in their pack.

Rio, the blonde she-wolf with sky blue eyes, was his best friend and a partner in crime. She was a strong werewolf, he knew that, but how could he not worry about someone who had been a sister to him? And then there was Megu. And God, did his worries were in the right place this time. Their alpha’s mate was heavy with  a pup, making it the top priority for the pack to protect her. The wolf growled, thinking about the many ways how he would tear the hunters limb by limb if they had hurt Megu and her pup.

A howl echoed in the distance, disrupting the peaceful night and bringing him back to reality. A werewolf, without a doubt. A one in trouble. The rare threw his head back but instead of howling back he sniffed the air, his blood running cold once the scent of silver and gunpowder hit his nose. The bastards were here.

He hesitated only a second before leaping on the nearby rocks and running toward the direction the howl of the wolf in distress came from. The chances that it was one of his packmates was low yet he needed to know. He needed to know that none of them was in danger.

The wolf slowed down once he pin pointed their location, his run turning into a careful lurking behind the bushes after getting closer. Hidden behind the plants and in the darkness, his copper eyes locked on the pair of two rares surrounded by six hunters. Without moving he scanned the scene carefully, sighing in relief upon realizing that he didn’t know the wolves.

The hunters pushed the two wolves against the wall of rocks too steep to climb even without the danger of being shot once turning their back to the humans. The humans surrounded them, guns and knifes in their hands. The red wolf spotted the net the two of the hunters had and growled silently. They weren’t out for blood, they intended to catch the rares.

Yet, the situation wasn’t really that bad. Without having to worry of being killed and with such a small number of hunters the rares could easily jump at a human or two and run away before the others would have time ro react. There was no need for him to interfere, he could turn around and run away. At least that was what he thought before taking a better look at the wolves.

They were both of a dark fur, the smaller black one shivering behind the larger dark blue one. It took a moment for the red rare to discern the slightiest differences in their scents. At first he could only discern the ones that told him the wolves were rare, but there was more to them. His eyes widened when he realized he had smelt a similar scent before. Pregnant. That small black wolf was carrying a pup.

Blood rushed into his head as an image of Megu flashed in front of his eyes. Suddenly it was not an unknown werewolf but his pack’s alpha’s mate there, in need of help. A growl escaped from his throat and before he could stop himself and think it through his body moved on his own and he jumped from his hiding spot right at the nearest hunter.

The men didn’t expect the attack from behind. He threw one of them off his feet, bared his fangs and buried them into the man’s shoulder, ripping the flesh into shreds. He didn’t care if the guy would die below him on the spot or later because of blood loss. Why would he care? The only important thing was taking him out and taking him out fast so he couldn’t hurt him or the pregnant wolf with his mate.

„It’s the Red Devil!“ one of the hunters yelled, aiming his gun at the red wolf and pulling the trigger.

The wolf growled once the bullet grazed his leg and proceeded to jump at the man. A few other shots echoed around him but none hit him. He didn’t bother to look who exactly was trying to shot him, they all probably were. He buried his claws into his target’s flash and howled when one of the other men came to his friend’s rescue and shoved a bloody knife into his back.

It stung more than the bullet wound and decreased his energy a lot. The man left the knife stuck in his back and with no way of pulling it out the devil just had to grit his teeth or better, sank them into the man’s throat. Another bullet buried into him and the wolf shivered, the strength of his jaw no longer what it used to be.

He released the man’s throat and looked around trying to find his next prey only to be met by twice the number of hunters than he had been expecting. He cursed in his mind panicking a little when more of the bastards came out of the forest and another three bullets shot him.

His legs wobbled, but he didn’t go down. No, he wouldn’t submit so easily. He ran into another hunter taking him down and then another, more knifes and bullets grazing his flesh. And then his vision blurred and his legs turned into jelly and before he knew it, he crashed to the ground. Incoherent yells were all around him but the devil didn’t even care to try and listen to them. Before the darkness took a hold of him he looked at the wall of rocks, the two rares nowhere to be seen.

Tadaomi looked at the passed out wolf on the ground while his men quickly tied its legs and mouth and wrapped it into the net. The squad leader came closer to the beast and pulled the silver knife out from its back.

„We have to pull all the bullets out if want it to survive until the morning,“ he stated not really caring whether the rare would survive or not. If it did, it would please his supervisors. If it didn’t, then the wolf would be lucky. Who knew what would be in store for him in the future.

The man ordered his subordinates to take the rare to their camp and then went to check on his injured men. Two dead, one of the group’s medics announced. Two dead and another four seriously injured. Damn the beast!

They returned to their camp, patched up their injured as well as the wolf. Another one of his men didn’t last through the night. The wolf did. Tadaomi didn’t like that yet he made sure the wolf’s injuries were taken care of and that it was injected with an appropriate amount of wolfsbane that wouldn’t kill it. The wolfsbane would keep it unconscious, it would be easier that way.

It didn’t take long to arrange for the priced wolf to be moved. The beast was soon loaded on a truck and disappeared from Tadaomi’s sight for a few days. Yet it still lingered in the man’s thoughts.

There was lot that needed to be done once a rare was caught. And the black haired man still had to notify the family members of the killed men about their passings. It wasn’t one of his favorite duties, yet he took it upon himself to personally visit their widows or parents. It was hard. It was unbearable. The cries of the women, the cursing of the men.

He hated himself for the stone mask he had to don on his face. The ordeal left in his heart a sorrow and a bigger hatred for the captured wolf. Those emotions must have mirrored on his face once he met Gakuho Asano. The man was very curious about the rare and Tadaomi understood right away that the wolf would get under the man’s special care.

„A catch like this is magnificent. You should beam with pride yet I see only frown on your face. Why the foul mood?“ the man mussed, sending the ravenhead a curious glance before returning it to the sleeping rare behind the bars. The wolf was kept sedated ever since they caught it.

„Men were killed,“ the hunter replied simply.

„Brave men. Their families must be proud of them,“ a muscular darkhaired man beside them laughed, disgusting Tadaomi.

Akira Takaoka was a brute and despite knowing each other quite long, even working together as fellow hunters, Tadaomi could never consider him a friend. He barely considered him a decent human being. The man had abandoned his carrier as a hunter years ago and now was one of the best wolf tamers. It seemed he worked directly for Asano now.

The two men seemed to decided to ignore him as they began a conversation of their own. Tadaomi didn’t mind. They only came to inspect the wolf that was soon to be transported to the Asano manor. After that the beast would no longer be the hunter’s problem.

„It seems to be rather dangerous. It will be tough. Do you think you will be able to tame it?“ Gakuho gave the tamer a questioning look.

Akira just laughed dryly. „Wild wolves are always tough. But there are ways to break them. It will take time, but it will be worth it. Besides, this one may be strong but is still young, almost a pup I would say,“ he grinned.

„Very well,“ the man in suit smiled, yet the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

„I presume that taming it would take most of your time, right?“ his smile dropped at once, giving the other man a serious glare.

„I’m afraid so. You might consider hiring someone else for that pup of yours to train,“ Akira shrugged, not really regretting not being able to train the little blue rare. The wild one was a better challenge.

Gakuho brought his hand up to his face to cup his chin in thought. There was an idea forming in his head for a long time now. He had dismissed it once before but now it came back, even more appealing.

„And do you think you would have a little bit of time to teach my son how to train the pup?“ he asked in the end.

He had always wanted Gakushuu to master the art of taming those wild beasts, yet up until now he had always thought his son to be too young for that. But now there was a rare pup in his possession, an excellent opportunity. The pup would be easy to train, a perfect way how to start.

Akira tilting his head in thought and shrugged his shoulders after a few seconds. „I think I would. The question is whether he is prepared for that,“ he said in the end sending a doubtful glance toward his boss. Training those beasts was not easy, especially for such a young boy Gakushuu was.

It didn’t seem that Gakuho shared his worries. „He will be alright,“ he waved his hand and turned on his heel. „Have the rare transported to my estate as soon as possible,“ he told to the ravenhaired hunter.

Tadaomi nodded, glad that this man’s visit would be soon over. Gakuho smiled and then gave the wolf one last glance. „I presume it was not given a name yet,“ he spoke again.

„Not by me, certainly,“ Tadaomi answered, his eyes darting toward the animal as well. „But my men started calling it the Red Devil.“

„The Red Devil?“ Akira laughed, amused by the name.

Gakuho just chuckled. „I kind of like that. Why not calling it that?“

The other man nodded, liking the idea of breaking the Devil. The trio exitted the building, the two visitor heading toward their car. Tadaomi didn’t ask them what they wanted to do with the wolf once it was tamed. And he didn’t ask about the pup they were talking about, either. He was just glad they left and couldn’t wait until the wolf was gone as well.

Once the two men arrived at the Asano manor, Gakuho dismissed the tamer and had his son summoned to his office. The man poured himself a glass of whiskey and seated himself on his comfortable chair, looking through his papers on the desk.

A knock on his door sounded after couple of minutes. „Come in,“ the man called, not taking his gaze off the papers to meet the same ones of his son.

Gakushuu was a fifteen-year-old boy with pretty face, strawberyblond hair and the same violet eyes and an ambitious look in them like his father. „Did you send for me, father?“ he asked politely, already used to his father not paying attention to him. He sat on the sofa, made himself comfortable and waited for his father to speak.

„Have you already seen that rare pup?“ the man asked his son.

Gakushuu snorted silently. „Of course not. When it was brought here you forbid everyone except Takaoka to see it.“

Gakuho finally looked up at his son, his eyes narrowing as if he didn’t believe that Gakushuu obeyed him. But he didn’t make any snapping comment, instead he chose to continue. „The hunters caught another rare. They will send him here soon,“ he informed his son.

Gakushuu was surprised, yet he only slightly widened his eyes before shrugging. „Good for you. So what does it have to do with me?“

Gakuho chuckled coldly. „A wild rare will need all of Takaoka’s attention. He will not have time to train the pup,“ he said narrowing his eyes again, waiting for his son to figure out what he wanted from him on his own.

„Do you...“ the boy hesitated for a moment, „do you, perhaps, want me to take care of the pup?“

A smile spread across the man’s face. A scary smile that was, making cold run up Gakushuu’s spine. „Shall I take that that you don’t believe you can do it?“ he asked, closing his eyes in a gesture.

A slight flush adorned Gakushuu’s cheeks in embarrassment. He hated when his old man tested him like this. He was tired of this dance. But he hated the thought of his father winning in any way. He would certainly surpass him one day. One day, it would be his father dancing around him to the tone Gakushuu set.

„Of course I can do it. It just surprised me that you had finally realized it,“ the boy answered with all the confidence he could muster.

Gakuho seemed to be pleased with that. „Very well. Let’s go then. It’s time for you to see the pup.“

They both stood up and left the man’s office. None of them spoke to the other before they entered the small building on the edge of the manor’s garden. At first glance the building looked like stables, yet inside were mostly cages and no horses. Gakushuu would sneak inside when he was a kid and the cages were still empty, but once the first rare was put in his father forbid such deeds.

They walked toward the two occupied cages and stood before them. The greenhaired girl quickly bowed her head to them and didn’t dare to raise her gaze even though none of them paid her attention. Gakushuu’s eyes were glued to the tiny blue wolf in the other cage.

It was apparently not old enough to change into humanoid form, yet Gakushuu couldn’t say how old the pup could have been. He heard his father mention a while back that the pup was small for its age and with the speed of the rares growing he didn’t dare to guess it. The gender was also a mystery to him. His father never told him and without coming into the cage and checking for himself he couldn’t tell. If Gakushuu had to guess, he would say that it was a female.

The blue pup was looking at them with calm but curious blue eyes, his tail tucked between his legs. It glanced at the other rare once or twice, but seemed genuinely interested in the boy. The boy’s face was unreadable. „What’s its gender?“ he asked his father not taking his eyes off the wolf.

„A male,“ the man responded.

Oh, so he was wrong. „And its name?“

Gakuho shrugged, „G47.“

The boy frowned slightly. „I don’t really fancy calling him that,“ he muttered.

The glare that his father shot him could kill. „‘It‘,“ he clicked his tongue, correcting his son. If Gakushuu was thrown off by it, he didn’t show it. „I don’t really fancy calling it that,“ he said again not bothering about looking at his father. Gakuho seemed to be content enough.

„Then pick a name, I don’t really care. Takaoka will supervise you while training it, be sure to listen to him properly. Do not disappoint me,“ the man gave him a key, smiled at him and then turned his back on him, leaving him with the rares alone.

Gakushuu stayed on the spot, turning the key in his hand. Then he turned and walked toward the door, checking whether his father had left.

„Kayano,“ he called after confirming that the man was no longer anywhere near the building.

The greenhead finally raised her head and gave the boy a slight smile. Gakushuu shouldn’t be talking to a rare. Talking to one was forbidden and his father was the one who greatly supported that rule. After all, the hunters declared the rares to be just animals. You do not talk with animals.

Gakushuu knew all of this, but the damage had been done a long time ago. He was sure that his father knew about him sneaking into the building over the past few years but hoped that he didn’t figure out that he had been talking with Kayano all this time. He probably hadn’t thought of that and that was a good thing.

It all started years back when his father brought Kayano to the mansion. He didn’t let Gakushuu see her, but the boy was curious. He had never seen a rare before. So he borrowed his father’s keys and sneaked into the building. He was surprised to see an ordinary girl. And he talked to her.

He was able to see her after that on many occasions when his father wanted to show her off on the parties and such, yet he continued sneaking into the building during the nights or when his father had been away so he could talk to her. He wouldn’t call her a friend, a rare couldn’t be one. But he enjoyed her company.

He returned to the cages and opened the one of the pup. He came in and shut the door close behind him. It spook the pup and the little rare jumped to the corner of the cage.

„I won’t hurt you. My name is Gakushuu,“ he said to the wolf with a stoic expression.

„Tell me, does he have a name?“ he asked Kayano.

The girl looked at the pup as if she sought his approval to tell the boy. Gakushuu had no idea whether they could somehow talk like that or what, but didn’t ask. There was just things he was sure he shouldn’t know so he refrained from asking, even though he wanted to.

„His name is Nagisa,“ the girl spoke in the end.

Gakushuu sat himself on the floor and extended his hand toward the pup, waiting for him to come closer and sniff it. „Nagisa. I will call you that as well, alright? But pretend that it was I who picked that name. Don’t want to get into trouble,“ he chuckled when the pup came closer to him and sniffed.

The boy surprised Nagisa. Kayano had told him that the master’s son was a good human, yet the aura around him was too similar to his father‘s that Nagisa didn’t expect the gesture from him. The pup gathered just enough courage to come closer to him and sniff his hand before the boy pulled the limb away.

It seemed that he had no desire of petting him. The blue rare wondered whether he would come to like this boy. As he had understood he would be in Gakushuu’s care from then on. It was clear as a day that it would be different from the way Irina treated him.

The boy didn’t stay for long. He exchanged a few words with Kayano and then walked out of Nagisa’s cage and left the rares alone. Once he was gone, Kayano turned toward Nagisa. „So what do you think about him?“

Nagisa lied down and placed his head on his paws, thinking about his answer. „I like the way he smells,“ the pup said in the end. „It’s fresh and a little bit sweet, I think.“

Kayano chuckled. „Yeah, he smells of oranges. But what do you think besides the smell?“

The pup pouted. „His eyes are cold and he wears a scary expression. He looks like his father. Master terrifies me,“ he admitted.

Kayano’s smile dropped and she sighed. „You are right. Even when he smiles it seems to be forced. But he had always been nice to me. I know that he has a good heart.“

Nagisa hoped that he did. For the last few days he had listened to Kayano’s stories about her previous masters and some were just cruel people who hurt her a lot. He didn’t want to be hurt. There weren’t many times when he could feel the pain but he was sure that he didn’t like it.

Kayano must have noticed his distress since she came closer to the bars separating their cages and shoved her hand between them, petting the younger rare. „Don’t worry, you will be safe here. And soon enough you will get used to this place. And to the master as well. If you behave yourself he will be kind to you.“

„What do you mean by ‚if I behave‘?“ Nagisa asked, leaning into the touch.

„You just have to be a good boy and listen to everything your master tells you. If he orders you something you must do it,“ she gave him a kind smile.

‚Be a good boy. Listen to everything your master tells you.‘ He ingraved those words into his memory and vowed to behave according to them. Kayano reassured him that he would live a good life. A safe life. He would be taken care of, he would be fed and protected. He just had to be obedient. She told him about the harsh life of the wildness, how the wolves were hunted and died of hunger, alone and cold.

The life in the wildness sounded to be tough. Hard. Nagisa imagined forest to be a scary place. Dirt and dangerous plants everywhere with a lot of monsters hiding in the every dark corner. Kayano had lot of stories to tell and most of them terrified him. The first night in his new home he had barely closed his eyes, nightmares hunting him.

It was not only the hellish forest and Kayano’s cruel masters that invaded his dreams. He also dreamed of Irina. The dreams of her always started as sweet and happy memories. Irina’s laughter was like honey, her hands were gentle and warm and Nagisa loved it. Yet all dreams about her turned sour in the end. Irina’s eyes lost her spark, her hands turned cold, her smile disappeared. And in the end she threw him away into the darkness, the same way his mother did.

Every night his dreams were better than the ones before. More bearable. Less scary. Nagisa couldn’t tell whether it was a good thing or not. He hated the nightmares of the forest and the pain the dreams about Irina brought. Yet he was more scared of not seeing Irina’s face again. And he wondered, if he was to stop dreaming about her, would he forget how she looked? Would he forget how she smiled? How her hands felt like?

„Kayano,“ Nagisa spoke after many minutes of silence.

The girl was now lying on her blanked exposing her naked body. She wasn’t permitted the clothes unless their master took her out. Only the blanket. She didn’t seem to mind. When it was too cold for her, especially at night, she would just change into a wolf. Nagisa still didn’t understand how she did that.

„Huh?“ the girl responded, shifting herself to look at the pup properly.

„Do you remember how your mother looked like?“ the pup asked.

He saw Kayano bit her lip, her eyes darting to the side in thought. She was born in the wildness, her mother a normal wolf. She threw her away the same way Nagisa’s mother did.

„I don’t,“ she admitted.

„I see,“ Nagisa sighed, turning his back on her.

The girl stayed silent. She watched his back for a while and then shifted again and closed her eyes, dozing off. She knew there was lot on Nagisa’s mind and that he had to deal with it alone.

Nagisa thought about Irina. Her blue eyes and her golden hair, the way she smiled, the way she talked. He could remember her clearly. Even though she hurt him, even though she came back in his nightmares, he did not want to forget her.

He didn’t know when he fell asleep. He never did. The sleep always just came and went. He dreamed of the forest again. It always looked different in his dreams, yet it had always been a dark place. The place he never wanted to go to in the real life. But this time he was pulled out of his dream.

He woke up to the sounds of something heavy smashing to the bars of the cell and Kayano’s shouts. His blood froze and he jumped on his feet, his gaze traveling to the figure of Kayano, checking whether she was alright.

She was leaning on the bars that separated their cages, gripping the iron tightly and looking behind him. She didn’t seem to notice that Nagisa was awake. A loud crash echoed again and Nagisa quickly turned his head the way Kayano was looking, since the noise came from the direction.

Nagisa’s eyes widened and he backed closer to the Kayano’s cage, fear gripping his heart. In the cage next to him there was a wolf bigger than Kayano, furiously crashing at the bars of his cage. His fur was of violent red color, his fangs were bared and his copper eyes berserk.

„Calm down, you will hurt yourself! You are safe here. Please, just-.“

Kayano’s pleas were cut short once the wolf snapped at her. Even though she had been a cell apart from hi she still shivered and jumped back from the bars. Nagisa couldn’t do the same so he just scrunched, trying to get as close to the ground as possible.

„Shut up, dog!“ the wolf barked and then continued attacking the bars.

Kayano no longer tried to stop the wolf. She watched him with worry in her eyes and leaned back on the bars, shoving her hand between them to pet and calm Nagisa. „Don’t be scared. He is just confused. He will calm down. But he might hurt himself before that,“ she told him silently, her eyes not leaving the figure of an unknown wolf.

„Who is he?“ the pup asked, still shivering on the ground.

„I don’t know his name. They brought him when you were sleeping. He was unconscious then. Once he came to himself he started that,“ she told him in a hushed voice, trying to at least soothe the scared pup.

Her touch did wonders. After a while Nagisa stopped shivering, yet he still wasn’t brave enough to stand up. He had never seen a wolf this furious. He had no idea a wolf could be this furious. This majestic.

The pup blinked in shock. The wolf terrified him, yes, but there was more to it. All it took was a glance to know the wolf was strong and proud and wild. And something from that made the pup admire the wolf. He had never seen one similar to him. One to radiate such strength. It was a sight to behold.

„That’s a spirit!“

The pup’s attention shifted to the door where the voice came from recognizing the bulk figure of Akira. Kayano immediately bowed her head and retracted her hand from Nagisa’s cage. Who knew whether Akira wouldn’t want to punish her for sticking her hand between the bars. Thankfully, the muscular man didn’t notice her.

Nagisa didn’t bother with bowing his head. He was still a pup and still couldn’t change into human so they didn’t lecture him yet about how to behave. But there was no doubts that Gakushuu would start with it very soon. The blue rare still didn’t dare as much as whimper.

Akira walked toward the red wolf’s cage, the beast started trashing even more, throwing itself at the bars, gnawing at them and trying to push his paws between them so he could bury his claws in the man’s flesh. It amused Akira.

„You do honor to your name, Devil. Breaking you is gonna be fun!“ he laughed and then grinned evilly. „Let’s start with starving you a bit. You seem to have too much energy to spare. I can’t believe you can be this lively after days of being injected with the wolfsbane,“ he shook his head in disbelief. He was going to enjoy this so much.

„No way in hell will some shitty jerk like you break me! Just try coming in, and I will rip your head off your neck!“ the wolf growled not minding that the man couldn’t understand.

Akira was still grinning at him which only pissed him off even more. The man turned his back on him and then pulled two nice pieces of juicy meat out of his bag on his side. He threw it into Nagisa’s and Kayano’s cage each.

„Mealtime! Be good kids, and don’t share with your new brother,“ he sang the words and gave the angry wolf one last grin.

„Daddy will see you tomorrow.“ With those words he left the three of them alone.

The Devil hammered into the bars a few more times before calming down a bit. He threw his head back and howled in frustration before starting to pace around in his cage.

Kayano kept sending him worried glances but didn’t try talking to him again. She pulled her meal closer to her, extended her nails into claws and ripped a piece of the meat. Nagisa watched her eating not really having enough of an apetite to do the same to his share.

„Eat,“ the girl prompted him.

„I’m not hungry,“ he replied and looked at the wolf in the other cage.

He gathered just enough courage to get closer to the bars separating them and with a long breath barked to get his attention. The red wolf stopped in his tracks and gave him a murderous glare. „What?!“ he growled.

Nagisa could feel how his courage quickly evaporated leaving him a shivering mess. „U-uh, hello?“ he managed to get out of his mouth. The strange wolf just scoffed and turned his back to him. Nagisa’s mood sank. He lowered his head and returned to the other side of the cage where Kayano gave him a sympathetic look, a bead of blood running down her chin as she chewed the meat.

Then she glared at the Devil. „You are being rude,“ she told him, earning another glare and growl from the wolf.

„Ain’t going to be nice to two stupid mutts. Just leave me alone.“

This managed to set the girl off. „We just wanted to help you,“ she snarled back at him. „You might be confused and scared but that is no reason for you to behave like a jerk! You scared Nagisa. And if you trash at those bars like you did before you will just hurt yourself. Or worse, Mister Takaoka will punish you. He already seems to have it out for you.“

The wolf growled and then laughed bitterly. „Just leave me alone, no one asked you for your golden advice. And do not worry, doggie, I won’t stay here for too long. You won’t need to put up with me.“

After that he gone back to pacing and Kayano choose to ignore him. „What a fool. Must be a wild. Don’t bother yourself with him, Nagisa. Mister Takaoka will beat some sense into him.“

Nagisa tilted his head, a little piece of meat finally between his teeth. He gnawed at it, swallowed and then asked the rare girl did it mean that he was a wild beside the obvious.

„Remember what I told you, some werewolves are still living in the woods. They tend to be agresive and do not handle well living with humans. Most of them do not end well,“ he sighed and finished off her meal.

„He called us dogs. And mutts,“ the pup thought aloud. „What does it mean?“

The girl growled silently. „He was insulting us.“ She glared back at the Devil. It seemed that the wolf was pretending they were not here. Nagisa didn’t like the way he was acting. It felt as if he thought of them as hermits.

The blue rare thought that he wanted to get along with the newcomer but he refrained from aproaching him again. It would result in nothing, maybe only in him peeing himself out of fear. The wolf was truly scary. Nagisa didn’t feel comfortable sleeping beside him despide the fact they were separated by bars.

Surprisingly enough, he fell asleep rather quickly once his belly was full and there were no bad dreams to see him through the night. When he woke up he found out that he was the only one.

Kayano turned into her wolf form sometime in the middle of the night and was now curled up on her blanket. She was a bigger wolf than his mother but considerably smaller compared to the newcomer. Her fur was the same color like her hair in the human form. Nagisa was never able to touch it yet he suspected that it must have been smooth and silky.

Nagisa yawned and stretched and then looked at the red wolf. He was curled up in the corner of his cage as far away from them as possible, as if he was scared of catching some kind of disease from them. His sleep was definitely not a peaceful one given the way his body was shaking and the occasional twitch of his ears or paws.

Nagisa stepped closer to his cage, trying to get a better look at him. His opinion of the wolf didn’t change overnight. He still looked majestic. Nagisa was enthralled. A wild. A wild werewolf. He must have been really strong to be able to survive in that hell called the forest. He was even called the Devil. Nagisa couldn’t else but admire the rare.

The wolf’s body shook again and before he knew a pair of copper eyes was staring daggers into his blue ones. Nagisa hold his breath, not able to move or turned his head. He just stared at the red wolf.

„You want something?“ the Devil snarled at him.

Nagisa swallowed and tucked his tail between his legs. „I-I’m sorry,“ he apologised quickly before the wolf would jump at him.

„For what? Staring at someone in their sleep like some kind of pervert?“ the wolf snorted.

Nagisa tilted his head to the side. „What is a pervert?“ he asked innocently.

The wolf was taken aback, even though he didn’t show it. „Never mind. Back off!“ he snarled at him and Nagisa decided it was wiser to just leave the wolf alone and retreat to the other side of the cage. Yet he couldn’t made his gaze to not linger at the wolf from time to time.


	3. The missing scent

The sleep was the wolf’s escape. Not that the Red Devil slept well. He often groaned and his body would shake, yet he never woke up because of something as stupid as a nightmare. The fact that he did not remember his dreams helped him to look forward the night.  
Back in the wild he was the one who fell asleep the last and woke up the first. But in that tiny cell it was completely different. The lack of movement was a torture for him. Yet the hunger was worse. Not once did they feed him since his imprisonment. How many days passed he could not tell. The sleep was his sweet refuge.  
Everyday Akira would come to taunt him. He never stepped inside his cage. The red rare started throwing himself at the bars, baring his fangs at the man no matter how loud his stomach grumbled. Akira was not stupid nor suicidal. He laughed at the wolf, provoked him even more and with a promise that he would break, the man left him with barely any strength to even stand.  
The rare knew that it was the man’s goal to exhaust him. He knew that his pathetic attempts only served to make the man laugh harder. He knew that if he continued this, he would soon end up dead. But he also knew that if he stopped, it would be truly the end of him. If he stopped, he would lose. He would lose to that man. And that was the one thing he could absolutely not do.  
He hated losing. Whatever problems the world threw at him, he had always conquered them. He had always won. So he wouldn’t lose to that man. He wouldn’t lose to human. Be it because of the pride or fear he couldn’t tell. But there was one thing he was sure of. The day he would stop rampaging would be the one when he either dies or breaks. And he wasn’t planning to break.  
His days always began the same way. At some point of time he would wake. Mostly it was because of the dream he did not remember. After waking up he wouldn’t have enough energy to jump on his legs. No, he would lie a little bit longer and then, drowsily, he would open his eyes. And the first thing he would see would be two curious big eyes of a blue rare pup.  
Nagisa usually woke up first. He would yawn and stretch and then scurry closer to the cage of the red wolf. He would observe him for hours until the wolf would wake up. The pup loved imagining what the Devil dreamed about. It was not hard for the pup to realize that the Devil was often plagued by nightmares with the ways he was shaking and twitching. He always wanted to ask, yet never found the courage to do so. The rare was scary.  
That day it began the same way as always. The Devil opened his eyes and saw Nagisa, watching him like some kind of freakin‘ attraction. The rare was entertaining the idea of growling at the pup and scaring him, but soon realized he no longer cared. He no longer cared that some stupid dog was staring at him day after day as if he was some kind of freak. For the pup he very well might have been one.  
The Devil did not talk to Nagisa nor Kayano. Not much. He would only snarl at them or threw an insult their way and ignore them the rest of the day. In his eyes they were just mere dogs. Neither of them knew what it was like to be a wolf. Not that he was surprised by that. Born in captivity was written in both pairs of their eyes. The way they looked and behaved was that of dogs that had never tasted freedom. It was truly pitiful.  
And so the rare looked into the blue eyes and seeing that nothing changed during the night he grumbled and turned his back on the pup. He was weak and so hungry that even the thought of something to eat made him nauseous. There was a dog bowl full of fresh water in his cage so he at least was not thirsty. Unfortunately, the water was no longer helping but making his stomach to careen and swim uncomfortably, so he refrained from drinking too much.  
The rare closed his eyes and silently prayed he would fall asleep once more. His stomach must not have been completely awake since the pain of hunger was not yet that huge. If he was to sleep some more it would be now, before the grumbling of his intestines would keep him awake till he passed out of exhaustion.  
„E-excuse me, uh, Mr. Devil?“  
The Devil snapped his eyes open, growled, and turned once more to glare at the pup.  
„That’s not my name.“  
Nagisa shivered visibly, but he no longer bowed his head and run away from the red wolf’s side of a cage like he used to before. Instead of that he just gulped and looked the wolf in the eyes again. The wolf was quite pleased by that. At least the coward was not running away from him anymore.  
„B-but they call you that. The Red Devil,“ the pup stuttered.  
The wolf scoffed in annoyance. „Doesn’t mean that it’s my name.“  
„So what’s your name?“ the pup tilted his head no longer stuttering, a shear curiosity in his eyes.  
The wolf watched him, a sudden shiver running down his spine. What was that? Something about that pup’s intense look was purely disturbing. The sudden feeling of a threat, even if it lasted only a second, was just unacceptable. The rare must have been really exhausted to be intimidated by that dog. On the other hand, ever since the rare first smelled him, the pup had been quite puzzling.  
The red wolf did not notice it the first time, his anger clouding his senses. But the last few days he had been sniffing the air every now and then. He smelled caramel and sunflowers, Kayano’s scent. It was the most dominant smell, Kayano being the long-term occupant. He simply assumed that Nagisa’s scent was not that strong yet and that Kayano’s masked it easily. How wrong was he.  
It didn’t matter how often he sniffed the air, how close Nagisa approached him or how distressed he had been. There was no scent lingering around Nagisa except that of Kayano’s. The pup was scentless. And that was impossible. Every wolf had a scent. The scent was what identified them. And wild wolves depended on it. Even humans had it, yet it was not half as distinctive as that of wolves.  
The scent of an aly, the scent of the foe. The scent uncovered the emotion hidden inside. Distress, fear, happiness, even love. The scent was like a language. They communicated through the scent. The way they smelled told them much more than words could.  
The words are wind. Could be false and meaningless. Treacherous. Like humans. But the scent didn’t lie. The slightest changes in it could uncover even the most hidden thoughts and emotions in one’s heart. In the pack you learned to discern them. And that was the base stone for the bridges that united them. It was what their trust was built on. So how could you trust someone who had no scent?  
You can’t trust someone like that. „None of your business,“ he scoffed at the pup, turned away and proceeded to ignore him again. Nagisa was not happy with it.  
„I’m sorry for prying but...could you turn my way? I-I wanted to ask you something,“ Nagisa whined at him, wagging his tail.  
„You have already asked something. I have no desire listening to your dumb questions the whole day. Ask me tomorrow. Or preferably never.“  
And that was the end of their conversation. Nagisa’s tail gone limp, his head hung low and the pup retreated closer to Kayano’s side of the cage. The she-wolf was still sleeping. Bored, the pup lie down and closed his eyes, trying to sleep the disappointment off. But he was not sleepy.  
He opened his eyes again, looking back at the red rare. He was lying on his side, his chest rising in steady rhythm. He must have fallen asleep again. Nagisa pouted and proceeded to clean his paws, licking the dust out of it. He didn’t like cleaning his fur but it gave him something to do.  
The creaking of the door alerted him. Nagisa raised his head, his fur long forgotten. He barked and jumped closer to the bars, scratching at them with one paw, recognizing the smell of oranges. Gakushuu walked toward the cages, checking the water bowls in all three of them. Then he turned to whining Nagisa and scratched him behind ears.  
„I have something to show you today,“ he told the pup, opening the cage and putting the young wolf on a leash. It was unusual for Nagisa to get out of his cage. The pup was pretty excited. Gakushuu had to grab him by the collar and hold him in place so the pup wouldn’t trash around him and the boy could put the leash on.  
„Let’s go,“ he tugged on the leash and walked the pup out of the building.  
Nagisa squirmed once the sunlight hit him. He was not used to sun. He didn’t like it. It was so bright. It burned his eyes. But it was also warm. The young wolf realized that he didn’t completely dislike that. It wasn’t the same warmth like that of a body, like that of a heartful embrace. Yet it was still a gentle one, that put your mind at ease.  
„Come on, get moving,“ the boy pulled the leash again, forcing Nagisa to make another step.  
Nagisa obliged, blinking wildly. After few minutes he got used to the brightness of the day and started to look around the place they were passing through. They walked the stone garden pathway lined with beautiful flowers and young trees. At their right there was a two-storey white building with blue tiled roof. It was simple but nice, with the flowerbeds under the windows. A perfectly cut lawn was spread out all around them, not a single tree offering shelter from the sun.  
Nagisa thought it beautiful. At first that was. On the second glance though it looked a little bit too perfect. A little bit too simple. Too vast. And too empty. Dull. There was no life. Not even birds were flying around. It was hard to even imagine worms digging in the ground under that lawn. It all seemed to be artificial. Was this how the human’s world looked like?  
The boy walked him away from the manor and toward the gate where two bulky men in black suits and sunglasses hurried to open the gate for them. They bowed to the boy when he was passing but Gakushuu blatantly ignored them.  
The wolf walked with the boy down the road nearing the settlement full of houses and vibrant human’s scent that made the rare nauseous. There was an unsettling feeling in Nagisa’s stomach which made him flinch whenever a new sound hit his ears.  
„Don’t worry, we are not going to the town,“ the boy spoke once he eyed the wolf’s wary behavior.  
Nagisa gave the boy a curious look but did nothing to voice his question. It was meaningless after all. Gakushuu didn’t seem to be capable even reading his expressions, so there was no way he would understood barking and whining. Not that Nagisa wasn’t used to that by this point. Interacting with humans was taxing. And rather frustrating.  
At one point they abandoned the road and started walking through the grass. By no means was it a perfect lawn like at the manor. No, this was a tall wild grass which almost swallowed Nagisa completely. Be it a few weeks back the pup would have had problems seeing where they were going.  
Soon the grass got lower and a nice pure sound like a fresh song chanted into Nagisa’s ear. It didn’t take long and the wolf could see the source of the magical sound. The ground receded to that of mud and rocks and in the crack in the ground a slim stream of water run down the hill. Gakushuu walked closer and then pulled the wolf to follow the stream until they reached a small pond with a whole bunch of tall trees close by, standing there like silent guards.  
Gakushuu took the leash off and then sat himself on the rock by the shore, pulling a book out from his bag. „Just enjoy yourself. Chase the birds or whatever. But don’t go into forest,“ he told the wolf and opened the book.  
The wolf tilted his head, looking around. The dragonflies were flying above the pond, the chirping birds were hopping near the water, taking a gulp or two into their beaks before flying off. His gaze landed on the group of trees which numbers seemed to be infinite, creating a gloomy darkness when someone tried to look through. Was that the forest?  
Nagisa remained at the place staring at the darkness between the trees. Remembering his nightmares he lowered his head and took a few steps back, despite not being that close to the woods. The fear and curiosity were battling inside his head and heart. He wanted to know. What the forest was like? Kayano told him stories but it was not enough. He hoped the Devil would tell him, yet he wouldn’t even listen to a question.  
He shot a glance at his young master. The boy was absorbed by his book, his eyes squinted, his lips pursed. He didn’t pay him attention at all. It was weird. The boy didn’t seem to be interested in him. Or in training him as he was supposed to do. He would come to see him everyday, but spent most of the time talking to Kayano.  
Nagisa was by no means complaining. But there was nervousness and a sliver of fear in his heart. Was it alright like this? Wouldn’t the master get angry with them? For not being trained? Wouldn’t he punish them? Nagisa feared that the most. Punishment. He didn’t really know what to expect for disobedience but he sure as hell didn’t want to try his luck.  
He kept staring at Gakushuu and then he glanced toward the forest. The boy wouldn’t notice if he went there. He wouldn’t go in, he would just take a closer look. Just a little bit. Just a second. Quick glance and he would turn back. After a moment of hesitation and internal fighting he moved forward.  
The boy didn’t notice. Nagisa’s heart was beating loudly in his chest. He wasn’t a bad boy. He wouldn’t go in. He wouldn’t. Just a quick glance. He was repeating the same words again and again. What harm would it do to just take a look? Besides, the boy wasn’t looking.  
His legs began trembling once he was close enough, but he kept moving. He was like enchanted. Like the woods, the trees were calling to him. Singing to him. Whether it was a nice or frightening song he could not tell. Whether his heart was beating out of fear or excitement he couldn’t tell. He just knew he had to feel it. The life outside of cage. Even though frightening, it was too tempting to resist.  
Closer he got the taller the trees became. Like giants ready to grab him and feed him to the gloomy shadows they guarded. And Nagisa didn’t slow down, eager to know what was hidden behind the shadows. The monsters and ghost of his nightmares forgotten. The fear no longer had a hold on him. The only emotion that remained was an unsatiable thirst.  
An electric wave passed through his body making him see white. A pain settled in his muscles making him trip and fall to the ground. He writhed and whined and then the sharp pain was gone as fast as it came.  
„Stupid dog!“ an angry voice shouted at him while someone grabbed him harshly by his collar.  
The pup whinced, opening his eyes to met those of completely furious young Asano. The boy was harsh with handling him, immediately fastening the leash on his collar and pulling him away from the forest, not caring whether he was hurting the wolf or not.  
„I told you not to go into the forest. And here I thought we could get along like two intelligent beings. That you would listen like Kayano. Perhaps father is right. You need a firm hand after all,“ he muttered mostly to himself, dragging the pup with him back the way they came from.  
Nagisa whined, pleaded him to slow down, but to no avail. He was still stunned, trying to figure out what just happened, where that shock and pain came from. And his legs were not working as well as they were supposed to. His body hurt and he was scared. He was scared of Gakushuu.  
The boy’s sweet smell of oranges turned quite sour. He didn’t like it. He didn’t have to be a genius to figure out that the boy was angry at him. And what would angry young master do he did not know. The only think he could do was to pray that he would not be beaten up. Or starved like the Devil had been.  
The walk back to the manor was not a peaceful one, a tension hanging in the air between them. Gakushuu didn’t even look at the pup. How foolish he had been to think the young wolf would be easy to handle. His relationship with Kayano clouded his judgement. He thought the rares were on the same level as humans. But they were not humans. They were beasts.  
The boy dragged Nagisa into the building that had been the pups home. He was not gentle when he pushed or rather threw the wolf into his cage. He gave him a single spiteful glance before walking out. He should have never gone easy on the rare. He should have never given him the freedom of movement like that. He should have never been so soft.  
„What happened? What did you do?“ Kayano’s gentle albeit strict voice spoke to Nagisa, but the pup didn’t hear her.  
Nagisa curled into a ball, his head hidden beneath his paws. He messed up. He messed up big time. He was a bad boy. He didn’t listen. But he didn’t regret it as much as he should. The thrill, the excitement from getting so close to the forest was still in his blood. Now he knew for sure.  
He wanted to taste the life of wild. Even if just for a day or only an hour. The vast darkness between the trees hiding so many mysteries was still singing to him, calling to him. Even if it was a terrifying place full of monsters, full of pain, he wanted to feel it. He wanted to try running through the forest and to see all that it had to offer.  
Nagisa turned his head to look at the red rare in the other cage. The Devil was weak, frailer with every passing day. But he didn’t break. He was still majestic. Still breathtaking. He wanted to know what kind of place gave birth to the creature like that. And he wanted to see whether there were more like him.  
„Nagisa!“  
The pup turned his head the other side, his eyes landing at Kayano’s worried face. She was in her humanoid form once again, her blanket lying on the floor leaving her stark naked. Her hair was a mess, she was leaning on the bars connecting their cages, gripping them until her knuckles turned white.  
„I-I messed up. I angered young master,“ Nagisa admitted, ashamed.  
Kayano was always helping him, always telling him what to do, how to behave. Nagisa felt like he betrayed her. Or worse, disappointed her. But she just smiled at him warmly.  
„It’s gonna be fine. Whatever you did I’m sure young master will forgive you. Are you alright?“ she asked and the pup nodded, trying to ease her worries.  
The she-wolf pushed her hand between the bars, gesturing for the pup to come closer. He happily obliged, almost purring when Kayano’s warm fingers brushed comfortingly through his fur. The girl made a few comforting noises stroking his fur and then she chuckled.  
„You know, you are getting bigger. Have you got any idea how old you are?“ she pinched his ear playfully.  
„I don’t,“ the pup shook his head.  
The girl hummed in thought. Nagisa gave her a questioning look but the girl pretended like she didn’t notice. There was no point in sharing her thoughts with him. He would figure out all the things that belonged to maturing in due time on his own.  
The greenette fixed her eyes on the red fur that belonged to the other rare. She was more worried about the Devil than she was about Nagisa. No, she didn’t like the rude wolf. But she still worried for the one of the same kind. He kept stubbornly resisting and aggressively attacking the bars of his cage whenever Akira showed up. But the girl knew that he wouldn’t keep that for much longer.  
She even doubted he would have enough energy to rampage that day. He looked more dead than alive at the moment. She couldn’t recall him moving around or even opening his eyes that day. Not even raising his head. She didn’t talk to him. Every time she tried it he would only bark at her so she didn’t bothered. But she still worried.  
„Hello, hello! Daddy’s here!“  
A chill passed down Kayano’s spine once the doors opened. She bowed her head, glancing at the red rare, holding her breath. Akira walked toward the Devil’s cage, hitting the bars with an iron staff. The red rare didn’t as much as twitch. That was not good.  
„Well, let’s look at that,“ the man giggled, hitting the bars harder.  
„Kayano?“ Nagisa squirmed and tried to pull away when Kayano squeezed him and pushed him closer to the bars separating them, blocking his view at the cage on the other side.  
The girl gave him a sad smile, her lips creating silent words. ‚Do not look‘. She knew pretty well what was going to happen. And the pup didn’t need to see it. It was going to get ugly. The wolf was weak, ready for breaking. Or dying.  
The Red Devil was awake. He could smell Akira before he saw him, even before he waltzed into the building. But he was just too weak. He couldn‘t stand. He had enough. He opened his eyes giving the man a glare. „Just end it already,“ he groaned but there was no sign of submission in his eyes. Just a pure fire.  
„Can’t stand, huh? But you still have that look. Hah, I like that! You are really strong. Well, let’s break you,“ he grinned and opened the cage.  
Kayano bit her lip, no longer bothering with lowering her head. No one paid her attention anyway. And she wanted to be the witness of that. She wouldn’t be able to bear hearing but not seeing it. It would be too hard. And like this she hoped at least the wolf wouldn’t feel as if he was completely alone in this.  
„What’s happening? Kayano, let me go!“ the pup whined but the girl held him firmly.  
The Red Devil heard the pup but had no desire to tilt his head so he would see him and the girl. All of his attention was aimed at the man in front of him. A man with iron staff and crazed look in his eyes. The rare growled but did not move.  
Akira thought it hilarious. He raised the hand with the staff and swung it down, hitting the wolf across the face. The rare groaned but did not move. When he could he glared at the man once more. But that just served as an invitation for the man to hit him again. And then again. He just kept hitting him, the head, the back, the legs.  
When the pain was too much the rare closed his eyes. It hurt. It stung. But his stomach grumbled louder, hurt more. The beating was nothing. His head felt too light suddenly. The wolf knew he wouldn’t keep his consciousness for too long. And he didn’t care. He was just hungry.  
But when he thought he was done for the beating stopped and a sweet smell hit his nose. The smell of blood that was not his. A fresh meat. He willed his eyes open to see the man in front of him, the most delicious looking piece of meat in his hand.  
Akira was grinning, swinging the meat in front of the wolf’s muzzle. The Devil forgot about the man in that instant, the only thing dominating his vision and all of his senses the juicy meat, the life itself in front of him. He felt his mouth open, willing his muscles to work and reach out to close the gap that separated him from the meal.  
A quick strike of the staff made him to see stars, the meat disappearing. He tasted blood on his tongue and groaned in discomfort since it was his own. He willed his eyes to lock on the vicious man, a hatred evident in them.  
„Now, now, don’t look at me like that,“ the man laughed at him. „I didn’t tell you that you were allowed to eat that.“  
Akira took a few steps back and placed the meat on the ground. „If you want to eat, crawl here!“  
Kayano pursed her lips seeing that. It was too demeaning for the wild wolf to crawl toward the food. It reeked of desperation, it was pathetic and would left the wolf humiliated. Crawling to save his life from starvation while his torturer could whenever hit him with the staff. Kayano did’t like that as well. It was hard to watch.  
„Screw you!“ the wolf tried to bark yet it came out weak like a whimper.  
He was hungry. But he would not crawl to be fed like that. Let the man just beat him to death. Akira saw that he was not getting anywhere, but he didn’t seem to be too bothered by it. He took out his knife, sliced off a small piece of meat and placed it in front of wolf.  
The Devil saw red. The nice smell tickled his nose and his jaw clenched. He was fighting with himself, with his instincts. However, he was not sure what this gesture meant. Would the man hit him again? Would he consider it to be his win? He didn’t crawl to get that meat. He did not submit. He was still strong. At least his will was.  
„Just eat you stupid mutt! Wouldn’t want you die on us, now would we?“ the man grabbed his jaw open and threw the small piece of meat into the wolf’s throat.  
The Devil almost choked on it. He wanted to spit it out, but his instincts kicked in. Meat. Food. He almost gagged while trying to chew and swallow it. The smell and taste made his stomach spin and he just prayed that he wouldn’t throw up.  
„Good boy. See you tomorrow!“ the man sang when he closed the cage, the satisfaction evident in his face when he turned to leave.  
„Bastard!“ the wolf cursed once he finished off the meat.  
Kayano sighed in relief and let Nagisa go. The pup was whining the whole time. The little blue rare jumped closer to the other cage, a panicking look in his deep blue eyes. „W-what happened? Are you alright?“ he asked the red wolf.  
The Devil just snorted, turning his back on him. He was still weak, still exhausted. He was cursing himself for eating that meat but it was mostly due to instincts. He just wanted to sleep it off. Yes, sleep sounded like a brilliant idea.  
„He will keep you alive,“ the girl told him even though she had no idea whether he was listening to her. „He will keep you alive. He will starve you and beat you and then feed you just enough that you will be able to survive. And he will repeat it. And a day will come when you won’t care anymore and will crawl toward his feet to be fed.“  
Kayano was right in that. She was always right. She spent too much time in the captivity to be wrong. And true enough, Akira came the next day to taunt the Devil like he did in the beginning. But now he stepped inside the cage, the wolf too weak to hurt him. The rare gathered just enough strength to stand on his legs but was struck down before he could bare his fangs.  
Akira didn’t try to make him crawl, not the next day or the day after that. He was waiting until the wolf would be too weak to stand on his legs again. Every time he came Kayano would try to cover Nagisa’s eyes so the pup would not see, but he didn’t allow her to do that again. And his heart ached when he saw the rough handling of the man.  
„It’s cruel,“ he told Kayano at the end of the first day.  
The girl just sighed. „Yes, it is. That’s why I told you to be a good boy. Don’t defy your masters. If they deem you to be too rebellious, they might get Akira to break you just like that.“  
The thought made shivers run Nagisa’s spine. That’s why when Gakushuu came and took him outside to train him he did everything he could not to anger him again. He complied. When told to sit, he would sit. When bark, he would bark. He would even crawl in front of the boy if he wished so.  
Gakushuu didn’t take him on the walk outside of manor anymore. He was rather rough with him, but did not hurt him. And the young wolf could tell that he was pleased when Nagisa did everything he ordered him to do. Not that he recognized every command the boy gave him.  
Sometimes the boy told him something he didn’t understand. When Gakushuu realized that the pup didn’t know what he wanted he explained it to him. Only once Nagisa didn’t do as he was told. Gakushuu didn’t yell at him. He didn’t beat him. Instead of that he pulled out a weird little box from his pocket and pushed a button on it.  
When he did that a wave of schok and pain passed through Nagisa. It was the same sensation he felt that one time when he didn’t listen and ran to the forest. „That’s an electric shock,“ the boy told him. „When I push this button the collar will give you one. And I will push the button every time you disobey. And trust me, I can make it stronger and more painful,“ he warned him.  
There was no reason for Nagisa to not believe him. Hence, there was no reason to rebel. He didn’t like the pain so he did what he was told. He was a good boy. But his thoughts turned a bit more sour after that. ‚Be a good boy‘, those words were bitter on his tongue. Soon Nagisa realized he hated them.  
He said nothing to Kayano. Nothing about his growing hatred for the place she called home. He found himself being less comfortable with her touches, her warmth suddenly not enough for his fears and dark thoughts to vanish. Not that he started to dislike Kayano. But he found her sweet words to be blind and dull. They sounded almost desperate, as if she wanted to fool not only him but herself as well into thinking that they were in a good place.  
If Nagisa thought the days to be boring before, now they were unbearable. When he went to sleep in the evening, he found himself to lie down closer to the cage of the wild wolf, and further away from Kayano. If she noticed, she didn’t comment on it.  
The Red Devil hadn’t spoken with either of them ever since the beating from Akira. He felt too humiliated to even bark at them. What was to happen with him? Would Kayano’s words come true? In the end, would he crawl at the man’s feet? Would he end up broken like he wanted him to be? He was too afraid of the thought. A few weeks ago he would rather go to hell than admit that he might break. Now it seemed terrifyingly possible.  
The red rare was thankful that the blue rare didn’t bother him anymore. Nagisa knew better than to ask stupid questions when the atmosphere between the three of them was so tense. Most of the time the rares lied in their respective cages with uncomfortable silence between them. None of them knew how to liven up the mood and none of them truly wanted to. Maybe except Kayano.  
The girl would glance at her companions biting her lower lip in worry until it bled. She was well aware of the fact that Nagisa’s mood turned sour, yet she had no idea how to cheer him up. And when it came to the wild rare, she found in herself only pity for him. It seemed that there was no helping him. She didn’t find it in herself to be optimistic about his case. The wild wolves never ended well in captivity.  
After few days she gathered enough courage to try talk to the big wolf. She did it at the time Nagisa was taken away by Gakushuu. She didn’t think it wise to push at the wolf to open up in front of a pup for both of their sakes. The Devil promptly ignored her the first few times she called out to him. She sighed in exasperation, wondering whether the wolf was even awake. Or alive for that matter.  
„Shut the hell up,“ he growled in the end, the bite from his voice long gone.  
„I won’t. Look, I just want to help you,“ she leaned closer to the bars, locking her eyes with the wolf’s once he turned his head to look at her. „Let me help you.“  
The wolf scoffed, „You can’t help me.“  
„I can’t if you don’t let me,“ she-wolf argued back.  
„Then if you want to help me, get me out of here. Get me to the forest.“  
Kayano gave him a hurtful look and shook her head. „You know that’s impossible. Forget about it. You can have a good life here. Just give up. Don’t defy Akira. Let go,“ she almost pleaded.  
The Red Devil closed his eyes, growled and then looked back at her. „You don’t know what you are saying. This life you are living is no life at all. Have you ever run through the forest? Have you ever run with a pack? Locked in this cage you do nothing all day long. How can you call that a life?“  
He was no longer hostile toward her. He sounded almost desperate. Kayano’s heart squeezed and her head hung low. „At least you will be able survive like this,“ she reasoned.  
„I don’t want to live if it means losing my freedom,“ the Red Devil ended their argument.  
The silence fell upon them once more. Kayano scurried to the corner of her cage, pulling the blanket over her to cover the expression her face was making. She closed her eyes, one of her hands raising toward her neck to grip on the collar fastened there. She wore it her whole life. What the Devil said was something unimaginable for her.  
„Maybe it’s better like that for him.“  
The girl snapped her eyes open, not believing that it was the red wolf that broke the silence between them.  
„What are you talking about?“ she asked, confused.  
„The pup. Maybe it’s better that he is not living in the wild,“ he clarified.  
„What makes you say that?“ she raised one of eyebrows in question.  
The wolf just scoffed. „You must realize that wolves like him would have it tough. The pack would not take him in. No wolf would trust someone without a scent.“  
The girl’s hazel eyes kept staring at the wolf, her mind puzzled. „I have no idea what you are talking about. Of course that Nagisa has a scent. Like every wolf does.“  
Now it was the Devil’s turn to look at her in confusion. He was just about to say something when the doors opened, cutting their very first real conversation short. Kayano smiled slightly at the strawberry blond boy who put the small wolf back to his cage and the Devil laid his head and pretended being asleep. He did that quite often.  
Gakushuu exchanged few quick words with Kayano and then gave her and Nagisa their diner. The girl was quite disappointed with how her conversations with Asano boy almost disappeared. He no longer visited her during the night and even though he was now permitted to go in the building he did not talk to her as much as she would like.  
When Gakuho brought Nagisa she was beyond happy. When the Devil appeared she was more or less glad as well. She thought that she no longer would be so lonely. They were the same as her. They were wolves and they were rares. But now it seemed that everything just went wrong. And she didn’t know who to blame.  
She wouldn’t blame Nagisa, the little pup was a sweetheart, too innocent for the world. Now, she could blame the Devil, but there was more pity in her heart for him them anger. And she knew better than to blame Master. She just hoped it would get better. She sighed as she chewed on her meat and observed the pup.  
Nagisa didn’t seem hungry. His piece of meat was lying forgotten next to him, the pup’s eyes closed. He must have been tired, the girl concluded. She decided to let him sleep. After all, she had no idea what kind of training Gakushuu made him go truth, even though she didn’t think it would be all that difficult. But pup needed a lot of sleep.  
She returned to wondering how old the pup was. It was hard to tell, especially since he was rather petite. If she had to guess, she would say he was only few months old, but it could as well be a year already. If that was the case then he would mature in the span of the next few months. With every passing day she was less and less sure about whether he was prepared for that.  
After she finnished off her diner she folded her blanket on the floor and stretched her arms, her bones cracking and muscles contracting. Her back arched and she yelped as she turned into a wolf. She paced, tracking circles in her cage and once her legs stopped aching from the change she curled onto her blanket, falling asleep right away.  
The Red Devil watched her silently, aching in his stomach making it hard for him to fall asleep. He couldn’t move very well in the last few days and worse than that, he didn’t want to. He knew he was abandoning himself. He knew that it wasn’t good. But he didn’t care. At the moments like these all he could think of was what Kayano told him. He would break. The man wouldn’t allow him to starve to death.  
Glancing at the untouched meal in Nagisa’s cage he began to thought that it might not be that bad. Like Kayano said. He would be fed, he wouldn’t starve. He would get his strength back. He would survive. „You fucking fool! Is your resolve that weak? Are you going to bow to that shitty human only because you are hungry?“ the Devil scowled at himself. He was being pathetic. Meeting himself a few weeks back he would make sure to kick his sorry ass and shove mustard and wasabi up his nose.  
„Do you want my meat?“ a small voice spoke to him.  
The blue pup was sitting close to his cage, his big blue eyes observing him. The red rare was surprised that he didn’t notice him. He must have gotten rusty. He looked into those big blue eyes surprised to see admiration in them. The pup always looked at him with those eyes, even after he had seen him in that pathetic state Akira left him in. It was completely different from the way Kayano looked at him.  
„That’s your diner. I don’t need your pity,“ the rare shook his head.  
„I’m not hungry,“ the pup answered immediately. „They always give me more than I need. Kayano makes me eat it all, saying I need to eat a lot to grow up. But I can share with you. You need your strength back, don’t you? So you could escape.“  
The wolf was rendered speechless. First of all, it was the longest he had heard the pup speak. And without stuttering to top it off. And secondly, he spoke of escaping. The wolf’s heart skipped a beat. Of course, he wanted to escape. The first day of his imprisonment it was all that was on his mind. But as the days passed all he could focus on was his hunger and the fear of being broken.  
A chuckle escaped from his throat and he bared his fangs at the youth playfully. „If you don’t plan on eating then give me that meat. I’ll owe you one, pipsqueak.“  
Nagisa nodded and dragged the meet toward the wolf’s cage. He hold the chunk of meat with his paws and tore of a smaller piece with his fangs, pushing it through the bars. The Red Devil didn’t hesitate and gobbled it up while the pup repeated the process, pushing most of the meat into the red rare’s cage.  
„You said you will owe me one,“ the pup said while watching the bigger wolf eating. „Does that mean that you will do whatever I ask of you?“  
The Red Devil chewed, nodding weakly. „Almost whatever,“ he declared.  
„T-then, when you get out of here,“ the pup stuttered nervously, „will you take me with you?“  
The wolf stopped, raising his head to look into the other’s eyes. Something strange hit his nose and he sniffed the air, widening his eyes once he recognized the scent. The scent that was coming from Nagisa. It was weak, barely noticeable, but it was there.  
„I promise,“ he said without a lot of thinking. „Now go to sleep.“  
The pup wagged his tail happily and hopped twice. „Thank you, Mr. Devil!“ he cried forgetting that the wolf didn’t like that name.  
„Shut up,“ the wolf growled. „Call me Karma,“ he added in the end, pulling the meat away from the bars so he could turn his back on the little ball of blue fur.  
If he was in his humanoid form, Karma would blush. What an interesting wolf. How that little dog could pull him out of his depression he did not know. But one thing was for sure. Karma was wrong. He was wrong to think that Nagisa was better off living in captivity. There was no way a wolf who smelled like that would survive in those cages for long. The Red Devil now didn’t wonder that he thought Nagisa scentless. He must have been too used to the scent of the forest to recognize it.


	4. The freshly drawn blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me after finishing chapter 3: this is fun! the next one will be out in a month!  
> me after 1 month: ugh! I have half of the chapter but don't have the time to finish it!  
> my conscience: do it now or you will have too much schoolwork you will not be ably to later  
> me: hush! I can finish half of that chapter whenever I want!  
> my conscience after another month: what about now?  
> me: omg, u crazy?! I need to study!  
> my conscience after another month: well, you have a little time now  
> me: and when do you think I'll get to relax and read some other fics? remind me later  
> my conscience, sometimes later: now?  
> me: you stupid oaf! I have exams! don't bother me!  
> my conscience when the summer started: well, you did well, now you have three months free, you can do it now!  
> me: ugh, but I'm going to vacation. there will be plenty of time later  
> my conscience after vacation: well now...  
> me: part-time job! I'm too tired! remind me later!  
> ...  
> me two days ago: how is it possible I haven't written a single thing in months?! why didn't you remind me sooner?  
> my conscience: .... I quit!
> 
>  
> 
> Well, that's somehow how it happened...so sorry for updating this late! :(  
> Something's telling me (obviously, not my conscience) that you are not going to like me any better after reading this chapter. At least I hope it is not a complete disaster. The next chapter will be in...uh what do I know? I'm not going to make any promises and risking that one of you will strangle me T.T  
> But, just so you know, I really love you guys! Even though I haven't posted something in quite a while I still see that you have an interest in this so thank you for sticking around!
> 
> Oh, btw, do you guys know where I can buy a new conscience? One that will force me to write things down and post them on time? The old one walked out on me and was still a faulty and grumpy bastard  
> Conscience: I will sue you!  
> (me: yeah, it's pretty late at night and I'm suffering of severe conviction that I can be funny. I promise I'm gonna stop doing that.....well, maybe)

The Red Devil looked better. Even thought his body had started to grow thinner, now it didn’t seem as bad as before. His legs were strong again to support the weight of his body and he gained enough energy to be able to pace inside his cage like he did in the first few days. Kayano didn’t like this.

The she-wolf was not stupid. She could put two and two together. She was perfectly capable of drawing logical conclusions to her observations. And it was painfully obvious that the red rare had had to regain his strength by eating. And that ultimately meant that Nagisa shared his meals with him.

She said nothing to the two of them. She just bit her lower lip in frustration and cursed the wild rare. This was not good. This was dangerous, especially for Nagisa.  Akira would notice this. The Master would notice. And then the punishment would be given.

She hadn’t exactly seen Nagisa giving the other wolf his meat. That bugged her more than the fact that the pup actually did it. He didn’t come to her for advice and he hid it from her. Did he not trust her? Now that she thought about it that might have been the case. They grew apart quickly after the red rare came.

Her thoughts made her blood boil. She had no idea she could be this angry. Not only at the Devil but at herself as well. To say that she hadn’t noticed how the pup distanced himself from her would be a lie. She had been aware of it, of the way how the pup gravitated toward the wild wolf, but she ignored it. Considered it nothing more but a pup’s curiosity, even after it became more serious.

It was too late to try to remedy it now. The deed was done, the only thing she could do was wait and see how it would backfire. Thankfully, the wild rare was no fool. Every time someone showed up he would lie down and pretend to be too weak to move too much. He would preserve his energy. What for Kayano was afraid to guess.

„Stop that,“ she barked at him one afternoon.

It was short after Gakushuu took Nagisa away again, the only safe time when the two adult wolves could have a talk. The two of them were alone, the Red Devil lying in his cage on his side, his eyes locked on the small window in front of him. He tore his gaze off from the window he couldn’t see through either way and glared at the girl.

Kayano was kneeling, holding onto the bars of her cage, her eyes full of anger directed toward the red wolf. It shocked Karma seeing her like that. Never would he have guessed that the she-wolf was capable of such a strong emotion.

„What?“ he growled at her not liking that glare she was giving him.

„I don’t know what you told Nagisa, but stop making him share his food with you. Stop poisoning his mind. He doesn’t need such dangerous thoughts like the ones you have been feeding him with. He...“

„He has his own head on his shoulders, don’t you think?“ the wolf growled right back at her.

Karma jumped on his feet and paced closer to the bars, baring his teeth toward the girl. She didn’t even flinch, just glared right back at him. She opened her mouth again to continue what she was saying, but the wolf beat her to it.

„If anything it’s you who is trying to force your way of thinking on him. Making him submit to humans, teaching him how to be a mindless puppy and ignoring his desires and wants, his nature.  Humans put the chains on him, but you are the one working on thightening them. You are the one who is pushing him so he would break!“

„I’m trying to help him! Help you!“ the she-wolf screamed, her knuckles turning white from the way she was gripping the bars. „I’m trying to keep us all alive and safe! Don’t you get it? This is our life. Those cages and those humans, nothing will change. We can live peacefully here or we can suffer. Why would you choose pain? We can live happily, we just have to obey. So why do you keep trying to sabotage it?!“

The wolf threw his head back and howled, then laughed bitterly. „Live? Live peacefully? What an amusing way of mutt’s thinking. You truly are a pathetic dog. Are you happy licking human’s boots? Do you find pleasure when they put you on the leash and push you around? Or when they hurt you?“ he glared at her mockingly.

„It’s better than dying meaninglessly because of something as stupid as your pride. What does it matter even if you have to lick their boots when they keep you fed and safe?“ she questioned.

Karma stayed quiet for a while, his demeanor changing completely. He looked the girl in the eyes with all seriousness he could muster as he spoke. „What else the werewolf needs more than his pride and pack?“

Kayano didn’t answer him. She couldn’t. For the love of God she couldn’t understand him. She was not capable of that. The thoughts of the wild wolf were a mystery to her. She would be never able to understand them. For someone like her, who only knew of the life with the collar fastened around her neck, the pride of the werewolves was forever strange. She would never understand.

Both of them came to that realization at the same time. Kayano bit her lower lip and Karma huffed in exasperation. He tilted his head toward the window again, wondering whether he would soon see something else from the outside world than the sliver of blue behind that dirty glass. The color reminded him of the pup.

What a strange pup Nagisa was. He was the same as Kayano and yet he couldn’t be more different. While fire of will in the she-wolf’s eyes was nearly non-existent, Nagisa’s burned brightly. No one beat the curiosity out of him and in spite of all the terrifying stories about the life in wild Kayano fed him with, there was still something in his heart that was pulling him toward it.

Karma  closed his eyes, wondering whether that something was Nagisa’s scent. He had never met a wolf that smelled anything like the pup. Surely, there were ones that smelled like pine wood or had this muddy essence, like his Alpha did, but Nagisa was different. He smelled like wood, the berries, soil and rain. His scent was as gentle as a breeze and as calming as a cold stream. It was not strong and it was barely noticeable and there was much more of the gentle scents creating the mix than any other wolf he met had.

Any wild wolf used to the smell of the forest would miss it. It would serve him well. Between the shadows of the trees deep in the green woods it would make him invisible. Living in the woods, Nagisa would be the king. No animal would be able to notice him until it was too late. No wolf would be able to track him down. The thought made shivers run down the red rare‘s spine.

Karma’s mind was warring with itself. On one hand he thought that Nagisa was perfect. That it was shame that he lived in captivity, that his only place was in the forest. He was getting antsy just thinking about how the blue rare would fare on his own. How would he fare in Karma’s world? But then there was this stabbing feeling in his chest. It took him a while to find out what exactly it was.

It was fear. No, he wasn’t afraid of that little innocent pup. But the mere thought of what could be awakened had the pup ever got into the wild gave him chills. He was always the one of the strongest. Had he wanted to, he would be able to become an alpha. There was not a single werewolf that could match him be it in strength or inteligence. And yet he felt intimidated by the pup’s raw potential.

Be it under any other circumstances, he might try to distance himself from Nagisa. There weren’t many rares he deemed as his rivals and to tell the truth he had no idea how to deal with the threat of having one. But locked up in those cages it was not an option. Besides, the pup was the only reason his stomach was not rumbling anymore.

The door creaked open and the wolf grumbled once a very familiar scent hit his nose. What a coincidence that his torturer picked the exact same moment he thought about his food source and in the end the source of his previous starvation as well to make an appearance. Karma opened one eye and growled silently. He was so not in the mood for Akira’s games.

„Daddy’s here! Did you miss me?“ the man snickered as he moved toward the wild’s cage.

The Red Devil closed his eye and decided on ignoring the hermit. He knew it would not make him go away, but it helped a lot to not jump at him, claws and fangs bared. Don’t get it wrong, he would _love_ to, but he did enough stupid things already. It was time to be mature and patient. Easier said than done, really. Being mature was not his forte.

Despite his resolve, he had a lot to do not not give in to his anger once Akira started banging at the cell’s bars with a cane.

„I asked you a question! Don’t you dare to ignore me!“

The wolf did not move but a growl drew out from between his teeth. He tried to tone it down, yet the man did hear. Despite Karma’s prayer, it seemed to satisfy him. The man grinned widely and then cooed at the wolf, telling him how much he missed him too. The Red Devil really wished to rip his throat out.

„Such a good boy,“ Akira chuckled sarcastically.

„I brought you a present today!“ he grinned again, hitting the bars once more.

Karma didn’t want to look. Whatever the present was, he was more than sure that he would not like it. But then he hated the thought of being threatened by something unknown. It was not in his nature to run away from problems and danger. So the wolf opened his eyes and forced himself to look at his torturer, giving him the once-over.

His gaze was quickly drawn to the man’s crazed eyes. It always was. The man was like a symbol of all the sadism and madness the mankind had to offer. In Karma’s eyes he was a despicable creature. Not someone he would consider a worthy enemy, but not someone he would turn his back to. But definitely someone he would love to see torn apart limb by limb.

When the wolf finally torn his gaze away from the man’s eyes it landed on the cane in his hands just to realize that it was not the cane. Karma’s throat went dry as he examined the mace, the long wooden shaft reinforced with metal and rounded iron head with little spikes. There were little slots on the head filled with another metal, paler and more shiny. Karma’s eyes widened slightly recognizing the little trails of silver.

„Do you like it? I had it made just for you. No hunter would want a weapon like this, of course, it’s impractical. But it’s just perfect for us to play with, don’t you think?“

The Red Devil threw a glance at Kayano just to see her expression. He doubted that being beaten up by silver-laced mace was something they would do to a werewolf. The silver might kill them. It wasn’t like he was looking for support or pity. He only wanted a little bit of consolidation, some kind of understanding, an acknowledgement of his own suffering, that it was not completely in the vain. What he got was ignorance.

The she-wolf was sitting in her cage leaning on the bars, her back turned to the red rare, her mind trying to wander somewhere else. She did not look at Akira, the wolf nor the mace. She promptly tried to ignore their presence. Karma cursed her silently, closing his eyes once more in a fruitless attempt to get the image of the weapon out of his head. He was already regretting opening them up.

Akira jiggled with the keys and opened Karma’s cage, stepping inside. The red wolf’s body stiffened, his muscles hardened. The Devil willed his instincts away, locking the beast inside him that was begging him to slice Akira’s throat open in the cage of his subconsciousness. He knew he had to endure. As much as he wished to harm the bastard, to make him hurt as he did, it would be foolish to show him that he had regained his energy back.

He was supposed to be starved and barely alive, a pathetic excuse of a captured wolf just a step away from being broken.  He shouldn’t have had enough energy to even stand on his feet. He should have been weak. A weak and starved wolf. But no matter how many times the Devil chanted the words, it did little to keep his anger at bay once the mace collided with his ribs.

It was a strong blow. The wolf did not doubt that the man had broken a rib or two. But it was not one that would leave him bloodied and seriously hurt. The bones would mend together in the matter of a day or so. It was not a problem for a properly fed wolf. Karma could feel how the silver stung his skin yet it was nothing compared to the hunters‘ bullets. Unfortunately, Akira would not stop there.

Karma gritted his teeth and convinced his legs that they were made of stone to not move on reflex as he took the beating. Some of the blows were strong, some weak and teasing. At first, it was just that, a simple beating. Karma could stand that. And then, suddenly, the mace was covered in his blood, his skin was cracked and meat torn. But that was not the worst.

Akira aimed the strikes mainly at his sides, breaking multiple of his ribs. The wolf’s breathing became frantic, a sharp pain erupting in his sides every time he took a breath. The broken bones must have pushed at his lungs. The rare hoped that they would not puncture the organ. He willed himself to breathe slower, taking small breaths to keep it from happening, but under the blows he felt suffocated and in need of more oxygen.

His body started trembling unvoluntarily. The shivers just made everything hurt worse, but Karma couldn’t stop it. His claws dug into the stone floor, leaving shallow scratches and the wolf really strived to keep it that way instead of burying his claws and fangs into the warm flesh of the human. But the worst of all was the burning sensation that quickly grew from his wounds into his whole body. The worst of all was the burnt of the white metal that only grew worse with every strike.

Once the man no longer found it interesting he exited the cage with one last strike aimed at the wolf’s head. Karma had no idea whether Akira just wanted to knock him out or was simply too bored of it already, but he was still glad that that last blow was the weakest one, hardly strong enough to injure him more.

He did nothing when the man closed the cage and didn’t move a single muscle long after he was gone. He was in too much pain to do more than breathe and even that he did with a great caution. His senses temporarily shut down, the only thing he was capable of feeling was the pain. At some point of time he closed his eyes and not long after lost consciousness. When exactly, it would be hard to tell.

When he regained consciousness it was pitch black in the building. He panicked for a moment, thinking that he had gone blind. After the sleepiness rubbed out of his eyes and mind, he realized that it was the middle of the night. He took a few bold breaths and happy to realize that there was no longer anything painfully pushing at his lungs and that the pain subdued quite a bit he dared to stretch his muscles a little, turning his head to look at the cage next to him.

As expected, the little blue rare was lying there, curled up into a ball. Karma could see his form rising and falling slightly with every breath he took. Next his gaze proceeded to look at the chunks of meat in the pup’s cage. Nagisa kept his promise and left half of his meat for Karma. It was already prepared, torn into smaller pieces near the bars that connected their cages.

The pup was lying in such a way that Kayano would not see the prepared meat, yet the wild rare knew it was a wasted effort. Firstly, Kayano already knew about Nagisa giving him food. And secondly, Karma doubted that the she-wolf was unable to see the meat behind the blue pup. Surely Nagisa meant well, but he did a terrible job.

It made Karma chuckle. He himself was surprised that there was no sign of agitation upon seeing that Nagisa’s pathetic attempt. He was still a pup, the wolf reminded himself. An innocent and honest pup with big curious eyes and a scent like home. Karma liked him. Despite that little fear still budding in his heart every time he thought about the pup’s hidden potential he still couldn’t not like the little blue bundle.

The wolf made no advance toward the bars to get the meal. He stayed put, watching the small rare and listening to the silence. It was a peaceful night. He didn’t have one of those in a long time. Ever since he woke up locked in that wolf prison he had been trying to sleep as long as possible for the sleep was an escape. He forgot how peaceful it was to relax surrounded by the darkness and watching his packmates in their sweet slumber.

 _No._ The Devil groaned silently, abruptly cutting his train of thoughts and turning his head so he would face the other way. Nothing about the night could be peaceful there. The darkness in the building was more dreadful then it was ever in the forest or in the den. And foremost, Nagisa was not a part of his pack. His and Kayano’s presence made Karma accept them, but they still were not his packmates.

Karma’s thoughts brought him to his den, to his pack. The dark brown alpha with golden eyes and his mate of very light brown brown fur, her belly nicely rounded with their cub. The honey brown wolf and a she-wolf of the color of golden wheat and with eyes like the afternoon sky. They were waiting for him, searching for him, and Karma could hardly control the erratic beats of his heart that longed for them.

His pack was not big, but it was his pack. He often left them, seeking the thrill of an adventure or the peace of the silent loneliness, but he had always came back to them. They were used to him being absent more then him being present, but they had surely known that something was wrong this time. If not for the forced parting of their ways then for the fact that he had never been gone for this long.

„Karma? You awake?“ a gentle voice brought him back to the reality of his imprisonment.

The red wolf was surprised to see the little pup blinking groggily at him, a little yawn escaping him. Nagisa tried to stretch but nearly fell on his snout as he was still half asleep. It seemed he would just love to go right back to sleep, but something was nudging him awake. That something were the pieces of meat which he started pushing through the bars to Karma’s cage.

„Go to sleep, runt. What are you even doing awake?“ the Devil scolded.

The pup did not show any sign of him listening. He just continued in his job as if it was the most important thing on Earth to do. Karma let him, watching him with strange fondness that had gone unnoticed. Once all the meaty chunks were on Karma’s side of cage the pup yawned again and curled up into a ball falling back to sleep.

The red wolf crawled closer to the bars and devoured his meal in the matter of seconds. When he was done he stayed sprawled on the spot without an energy to move again, his stomach satisfyingly full and lungs burning from the exertion that crawling and eating was. He stayed like that until the morning came, the sleep coming for him not long before the other occupants of their prison woke up.

The first thing that Nagisa did after waking up was check on the cage beside him, happily noting that the food was gone and the red wolf was sleeping peacefully as if nothing wrong had happened. He was sincerely worried about Karma, fearing the wolf might have never woken up.

With nothing else to do Nagisa stretched, drank from his bowl and then returned to his previous place and watched the sleeping wild rare. His mornings were uneventful just like that. For he did not know anything else he wasn‘t bothered by it, though lately he started wondering what would his mornings be like had he lived in the forest. The thing was he could not even begin imagining it.

„How is he?“

The blue pup turned his head to see two big golden eyes of a mint coloured wolf. The pup waited a bit for the she-wolf to change into her humanoid form since she preferred to do that as soon as she woke up. Strangely, she just wagged her tail and patiently waited for his answer with no indication of changing into her other form.

„Sleeping. He looks a bit better,“ the pup answered in the end.

Whether she was pleased with that or not was hard to tell. „That so?“ she said in the end.

And just like that the silence fell on them, though not a comfortable one. Kayano opted to watch the bare walls while Nagisa’s eyes were either watching the Red Devil or the she-wolf.

„Aren’t you going to change?“ he asked after a while.

Kayano turned her head and gave him a meaningful look. „Have you noticed what the trees and plants were looking like the last time Gakushuu took you out?“ she answered with a question of her own.

Nagisa took a minute to thought back at the previous day. „Weird,“ he tilted his head. „The flowers disappeared. And the leaves of trees were strangely yellow.“

Kayano nodded her head in approval. „The season’s are changing. The summer is gone. Now it’s fall. It’s gonna get much colder now. I have no desire of being naked in the cold.“

Cold. The word was strange to the pup. He racked his brain but could not remember a time he was cold. His fur protected him too well for that. Although... he did remember something. A dark cage and the feeling of cold and loneliness. But he also did remember times when he was warmer than usual back there.

 _Huh?_ the pup tilted his head. When was he warmer than usual? It was not during the summer heats. He was hot then, but not comfortably warm. A memory flashed through his mind, a memory of golden crown, a long curly hair and two light blue orbs. Some human. Some human hugging him. A warmth of a human’s body. _Oh, right. Irina._

Nagisa whined, which earned him a worried glance from Kayano. But he did not notice that. Sadness enveloped the pup but not because he missed Irina. He did that too, but the real reason was much, much worse.

„I don’t remember her face,“ he whispered, his voice laced with pain.

„Whose face?“ the she-wolf questioned, but did not get an answer.

Nagisa could not hear her. He tried and tried, but to no avail. He did remember tiny details. Her hair, her eyes, her smile. The most importantly he remembered her laugh and the warmth of her embrace. But he could not merge all those things together.

How could he forget? For a long time Irina was the only person Nagisa liked in his life. The only person that was kind to him. That embraced him. That played with him. The only person that mattered. Was it because she was so long gone? Because she betrayed him? Or because there were Kayano and Karma in his life now? Did their faces replaced that of Irina?

„Nagisa, are you alright?“

The pup raised his head and looked deep into Kayano’s worried eyes. „I don’t remember my mother’s face,“ he whimpered.

After that he curled up into a ball. A silence stretched around them and not a comfortable one. Kayano longed to break it yet found no words to speak. She did not remember her own mother. Yet she did remember she had a sister. But that was a long time ago, when she was someone else. And her sister was probably long dead.

„Do you remember how she smelled like?“ the she-wolf asked the pup gently after few infinite minutes.

Nagisa curled up into himself even more, closing his eyes, trying to draw the memory out of his mind.

„Roses,“ he remembered. „It was sweet but not strong. It was gentle like she was. I had no idea what kind of smell it was, but I did smell it in the garden. Gakushuu said the flowers that smelled like that were called roses.“

A little smile adorned Kayano’s lips. „Good. Then it’s alright. As the time goes by, the faces fade out from your memory. But it doesn’t matter as long as you remember the scent. That’s what is truly important.“

Her words managed to ease the ache in the blue rare’s heart. He still remembered the scent. He would make sure to never forget it. Roses. Sweet but gentle roses. Beautiful roses that pleased the eye. But there were thorns that protected them. The pup wondered, whether his kind Irina had thorns of her own as well. _It’s not like I will ever find out_ , he thought solemnly.

They both spent the next few hours in complete silence. The Devil was still sleeping and Nagisa did not feel like uncurling so he just lied there like that, thinking of Irina. There weren’t many memories he could recall so he just focused on the scent of roses and the memory of her pretty blond hair.

„Nagisa.“

The rare’s head snapped up in attention, his eyes looking into those of Gakushuu.

„Come on,“ the boy opened the cage and motioned for the pup to come out.

The boy did not bother himself with the leash, not for the last couple of days. He still had his remote control to Nagisa’s collar though. He made sure that Nagisa kept it in mind. Not that the pup was planning on misbehaving.

Nagisa followed the Asano boy out of the building, taking a good look at the trees and the plants once they were out. Now that he knew, it was clear that the fall was already here. It felt a bit depressing to see everything barely clinging to life. Nagisa found himself engulfed with the fear that once the last leaf falls from the trees there will never be any to grow back up, that the trees will stay bare and lifeless.

To his surprise, Gakushuu did not start to drill him like before in the garden. He continued walking past their usual training place and toward the house. Nagisa did not mind, though still feared that maybe the change in their routine was a bad sign. Did he do something wrong? Did Gakushuu want to somehow punish him?

The boy walked toward the side door to the mansion which was mainly for the use of the servants, opened it and called for Nagisa to get inside.

„It’s cold out there. I’m not going to freeze when we can be inside.“

Nagisa had no idea whether he was saying that to him or one of the scared maids that was quick to question him about his intentions once she saw him with a dangerous beast inside the house.

„I will have to inform your father about this,“ she said, eyeing the pup warily.

„My father will not learn about this,“ the boy threw a murderous glare at her which made her gulp.

It seemed the woman was not as much scared of the young wolf as she was of her young master. She just bowed her head and let them go past her. Nagisa hoped that if master did hear about it, it wouldn’t be him that would be punished for it.

Gakushuu let the rare into the winter garden and there started their usual training routine. Honestly, Nagisa was intimidated by the house. The space, though spacious, seemed to dangerously close around him more than the small building where his cage was. Everything inside was so bright and clean and smelled too much of people and chemicals. The wooden floor he walked on was shiny and a bit slippery and he feared that he would either slip and fall flat on his nose or scratch it with his claws, which was a worse alternative for him.

But the winter garden was nice. The tiles there was more slippery than the wooden floor but Gakushuu let Nagisa to a soft carpet placed in the middle of the room. The plants inside were unaffected by the change of season and all were still green, some of them even flowering. The big windows provided enough of the natural light and the place did not smell as strongly of the chemicals as the rest of the house.

Their session was quite short, at least it seemed like that to the rare. Still it was unmistakable that the boy did not fancy repeating the same commands to Nagisa again and again. Soon he threw himself into one of the sofas and heaved a tired sigh.

„You already know all of this. You obey just fine. I have not idea what am I to train with you. You are not a dog, I’m not going to play with you fetch and such. What exactly does father expect of me?“ he wondered aloud, partly talking to Nagisa, partly to himself.

Obviously, Nagisa did not respond. He just sat there wagging his tail and watching the boy, waiting for him to commands something.

„Let’s go back,“ Gakushuu said in the end and the little wolf followed him outside and to the building that had became his home.

Once they were inside Nagisa found out he would rather stay in the house or out in the cold a little bit longer. He was not prepared to witness the scene that had unfolded before them. Before he knew it Gakushuu was right next to him, grabbing his collar and holding him in space, a silent „stay!“ falling from his lips. It was unnecessary for Nagisa for frozen on the spot.

While they were gone Akira had returned. He was in Karma’s cage, cackling like a maniac, the same weapon from the other day in his hand, old and new blood smeared all over it. It was the first time Nagisa had seen a mace but even he understood that it was no ordinary weapon, made purely for one objective. Beating the crap out of his new friend.

Karma was splayed on the ground, one of his eyes half cracked open, his breaths uneven and his fur matted by blood, fresh and old. He was obviously in a lot of pain, but he did not attempt to stand up and avoid the blows. He just lied there, taking the blows, only ever so often scowling from the pain.

Nagisa could not watch it. It was worse than before when Akira beat him up with the cane. It was bloodier. It was sick. And the worst of it was the fact that Karma did not fight back. He was hurt, sure he was, but unlike before he had regained a little of his strength from food. Why did he not fight back? Why did he let Akira do as he pleased? He was going to die like that!

Gakushuu pulled Nagisa by his collar and guided him toward his cage, the little rare’s legs barely moving. He had to drag him for the pup started squirming and fighting for the freedom. „Stop it!“ Gakushuu hissed but Nagisa paid no mind. He just whined even louder, attracting the brute’s attention.

„Fight back! You are the Red Devil! You are a wild wolf! Fight back!“ Nagisa screeched at the red rare in desperation.

He could not handle Karma giving up. He looked up to him. The red rare was amazing, strong and wild. He was a free wolf, if not in the body then in the soul. He could not just let himself getting beat up like that!

„No, don’t! Be quiet, Nagisa! Don’t disobey, go to your cage!“ Kayano pleaded, but Nagisa did not hear.

„Shut it the fuck up or I will do it!“ Akira pointed at the blue rare, spitting at Gakushuu, his weapon threateningly raised.

Nagisa’s heart skipped a beat, a fear of being beaten up taking a hold of him. But it lasted only a second. The blue rare was quick to whine and bark again, which only anoyed the man.

„That little-„

Akira was clearly prepared to step out of the cage to get Nagisa a proper lesson, but he never get to that. A horrifying growl silenced everyone in the building, a sound so terrible that it shook Nagisa’s very soul. It was dominating and feral, screeching with rage. And before Akira had time to properly swing his weapon, a big paw with razor sharp claws collided with his head, the claws digging into his right cheek.

Blood spluttered around the cage and Gakushuu yelped, jumping away though he himself was not in any kind of danger, forgetting about Nagisa completely. He quickly reached into his pocket, pulling out the remote control and after fiddling with it in a hurry pushed the button.

Nagisa expected the jolt of electricity to run through his body again, but the one who fell on the floor in pain was the Red Devil, his copper eyes screwed shut and his body unmoving after. Nagisa wanted to run toward his cage, to bark at him, to ask him whether he was alright, but found himself unable to, his gaze locked with the crimson adorning Akira’s face and clothes.

The man was wheezing from pain, half unconscious himself it seemed. Gakushuu quickly opened the cage, helping the man stand up. He threw one of his arms around his neck ans struggled to get him out of there as quickly as possible. It was just as he placed him on the ground, spinning himself in hurry to close the cage that Nagisa regained his senses.

The pup rushed off, quickly running underneath Gakushuu’s legs into the cage. It was too late when the boy noticed him and he did not try to stop him. He just closed the cage and then dragged the man out of the building, yelling for help.

Nagisa ignored Kayano’s distressed whining, actually he could not even comprehend her presence, and nudged the red rare with his muzzle. His heart was beating frantically and he found himself whining when Karma stayed laying without any kind of movement. Not even the little raises of his chest that would indicate breathing.

Nagisa’s blood run cold, dread spreading through his veins. Karma was not breathing. Nagisa had never seen anyone who wasn’t breathing but he knew one thing for sure. You needed to breathe to live. His whining grew more erratic and desperate as he poked to his friend’s side and neck and head, trying to coax him into moving, into any kind of movement, preferably the one that accompanied the breathing.

Yet his attempts were futile. Karma stayed motionless. In the end Nagisa stopped his attempts, his paws and muzzle matted with his friend’s blood and his throat hurting. He did not know what to do. He could not do anything. He was just a little pup, there was no way that his pathetic attempts would bring his friend back to life.

Karma was dead. The realization hit him and the pup started mewling anew. He did not hear Kayano trying to calm him down. There was something urgent she had to say to him, something that might have ease his hurting heart but he could not hear. Right then she was insignificant. All that mattered was his friend’s body, beaten up, bloodied and lifeless.

The door of the building opened again, but the sound of it and the footsteps that crept closer went unnoticed by the young wolf as well as the sound of the gun. Before he knew it, Nagisa felt a sting on his back. For a moment he wondered what it had been. And then his world turned dark.

Dark was the forest without the moon as well. Rio did not mind that. Darkness was pleasant to her. Fewer hunters were willing to wander around without at least the moon to light their paths. How convenient. She would love to enjoy the night, one of the last pleasant ones before the winter started creeping along. But there was little she could enjoy about it.

She sniffed wildly every now and then, the scent of her friend almost gone from the forest. She had been stalking the forest for days on no end but Karma was nowhere to be found. But then... she growled in frustration and worry once she got to that reeking place. There was Karma’s scent, stronger than anywhere, laced with dozen scents of hunters, blood and silver.

„Hotheaded idiot!“ she cursed. „What did you get yourself into?“

She looked around in the desperation but knew there was little she could do now. The scents were old. It happened long time ago. She knew there was no way that with so many hunters and so much blood that had been shed would Karma be still alive. But there was still hope.

She dashed out of that place, sniffing fiercely, trying to track those scents. What she smelled shocked her quite a bit. The smell of a pair of wolves, mates, one of them pregnant. They were obviously not caught by the hunters. Did they had anything to do with what happened to her packmate?

The she-wolf set her eyes at the darkness of the forest and without much to think about started to track the scent of the werewolf pair. It took her two whole days to finally find them, though she was herself surprised that it was not much longer.

The male of dark blue fur greeted her at the entrance to their den with a warning growl.

„If you value your life then turn around and returned the way you came here.“

Rio expected nothing else from a protective rare with a pregnant mate. She bowed her head and tilted it, exposing her neck in the sign of submission. It was quite an out of character for her to do it. She had only ever submit to her alpha and even though her instincts sometimes screamed at her to submit to Karma as well, she never did it, denying to accept that there was someone else beside Yuuma she needed to submit to. But right then she was on the verge of desperation. She had to know what had become of her packmate.

„I’m not an enemy. I just need your help. I only want to ask you something, then I’ll go,“ she promised to the wolf.

The rare sniffed the air, seeking for any kind of falsehood. Upon not finding any, he just nodded once, encouraging the she-wolf to talk.

„My name is Rio,“ she began politely.

„Tomohito,“ the wolf answered with his own name.

„Several days ago, one of my packmates was in the forest the west of here. He was surrounded by hunters. I noticed the smells of you and your mate there and hoped that you might know what befell him.“

Tomohito eased up his stance, giving Rio a solemn look.

„Was he of red fur and strong, violent scent of spices?“

Rio’s tail wagged furiously behind her, fearing of what would next. „Yes.“

Tomohito sighed. „He saved me and my mate, Yukiko, when the hunters surrounded us. I’m sorry, but he didn’t make it.“

Rio’s heart sunk. She took a deep breath and suppressed the whine. „Was he killed?“

Tomohito tought about it a bit and then shook his head. „No, I think they captured him alive.“

Whether the news were good or bad Rio could not tell. She bowed her head in thanks and turned around to walk away, but Tomohito’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

„Wait! Your packmate save us. My mate and my pup would have been dead without him. He has my deepest thanks. And I’m sorry what happened. I apologize for not helping him, but it was my mate that was my top priority.“

„Obviously,“ the blonde sighed. „I do not blame you. I would have done the same.“

She lingered a bit more, wondering whether the would would have something else to say. And he did.

„Could you tell me his name?“ he asked. „I want to know who to be thankful to for my pup’s life.“

„Karma,“ Rio answered, turning once more and not looking back, cursing that hotheaded idiot of a packmate of her with all her being. But she would not believe that they killed him, that he died. No, he was too big of an idiot to not survive.


End file.
